{"id":11201,"date":"2020-03-22T00:03:44","date_gmt":"2020-03-22T04:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/"},"modified":"2020-03-22T00:03:44","modified_gmt":"2020-03-22T04:03:44","slug":"blackbuck-hauling-the-future","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackbuck \u2013 Hauling the future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transporting cargo between cities sounds deceptively easy \u2013 organize the goods, identify a shipper, and notify the recipient. Hidden beneath this are a surprising number of inefficiencies on both the shipper (demand) and trucker (supply) side, ranging from tracking to utilization. In the Indian context, it is further exacerbated by the abundance of technologically unsophisticated small fleet owners and individual owner-operators. Started in 2015 Blackbuck evolved from a freight matching marketplace to a logistics technology ecosystem offering productivity enhancement solutions to both shippers and truckers. The platform hosts more than 10,000 customers (typically small\/medium enterprises) and over 250,000 trucks and brought in $135mn of revenue (FY19). Arguably this is insignificant relative to the $100bn surface logistics sector in India but I believe Blackbuck can provide sustainable value to a market that is ripe for technological disruption.<\/p>\n

Everybody loves efficiency<\/h2>\n

Efficiencies across the board are Blackbuck\u2019s key value proposition \u2013 to both sides of the platform. Blackbuck evolved from a \u201cUber for trucks\u201d for shippers to a more holistic shipping management solution providing price transparency, granular shipment tracking, and guarantees. It also provides flexible shipping services \u2013 contract based vs. on-demand, a key feature that is critical to incentivizing shippers to use the platform and thereby attracting fleet operators.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, truck owners and fleet operators constantly run into the possibility of returning empty-handed after finishing up a delivery. The current model which involves working with local customers means that their services are unheard of outside their particular city.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Blackbuck\u2019s efficient freight matching model allows for the cargo to be transported by the \u201cright\u201d truck owner potentially increasing their utilization and revenue \u2013 a service for which Blackbuck charges a commission ranging between 15-20% of the value. In addition, Blackbuck also provides financing services including early payments and fuel cards \u2013 incentives that keep fleet operators on the platform, and alternative sources of monetization for Blackbuck.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Roadblocks ahead!<\/h2>\n

The transport and logistics sector in India attracted a plethora of startups and, chasing them, huge amounts of funding in recent years. In addition to multiple platforms competing directly with Blackbuck (still the largest and best-funded), a range of alternatives has grown, each carving a market for itself.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, catering specifically to the burgeoning e-commerce sector in India is Delhivery which recently raised $400mn in funding from Softbank providing both market validation and easy ways to attract customers and partners. While Blackbuck\u2019s primary focus is full truckload cargo between cities, Delhivery operates across the entire value chain including warehousing, express services, etc.<\/p>\n

Another well-funded threat is Rivigo, which plays in the intercity transport segment but by owning a fleet of trucks and improving performance, utilization and driver welfare through a technology-enabled relay operating model. Rivigo is betting its future on an entirely different thesis \u2013 where Blackbuck sees the fragmented market sustaining into the future, Rivigo is hoping that consolidation will become the mainstay. Rivigo is also focusing heavily on drivers (who are its employees) welfare whereas Blackbuck aims to be relatively hands-off and only provide a layer of trust and allow all players their own freedom to choose.<\/p>\n

Highway to Heaven?<\/h2>\n

It is inevitable that Blackbuck will be forced to choose how it competes with either of these firms and I think it should resist the temptation to expand its target segment or change its operating model.<\/p>\n

Instead, it should work towards onboarding larger fleet operators and large shippers by providing superior technological services for the logistics operations. The key to sustaining a platform business model will be stakeholders on both sides who can continuously generate value for themselves \u2013 large fleet owners can leverage Blackbuck\u2019s technology offerings for their operating efficiencies and also diversify their customer base at the same time. Similarly, large shippers would also benefit from diversifying their logistics vendors.<\/p>\n

Another reason Blackbuck should resist bring its own trucks onto the platform is a recent regulatory action in India that frowned upon the likes of Amazon and Flipkart selling their own products through the marketplace. While Blackbuck is yet to demonstrate sustained profitability, the uncertainty of the future would favor companies with strong economics \u2013 something that it can achieve, scale, and sustain through its hybrid product\/platform model.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blackbuck is attempting to solve the inefficiencies in the Indian surface transport sector through a marketplace and technology-enabled services. Its impressive growth and recent funding have attracted various competitors \u2013 including one that questions the logistics platform business model itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11740,"featured_media":11204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[1187,944,1226],"class_list":["post-11201","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-logistics","category-saas","category-supply-chain","hck-taxonomy-organization-blackbuck","hck-taxonomy-industry-transportation","hck-taxonomy-country-india"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/platform-business-challenges\/","yoast_head":"\nBlackbuck \u2013 Hauling the future - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blackbuck \u2013 Hauling the future - Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Blackbuck is attempting to solve the inefficiencies in the Indian surface transport sector through a marketplace and technology-enabled services. Its impressive growth and recent funding have attracted various competitors \u2013 including one that questions the logistics platform business model itself.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/blackbuck_logo-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"519\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"189\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blackbuck \u2013 Hauling the future - Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/blackbuck_logo-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-22T04:03:44+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/blackbuck_logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/blackbuck_logo-1.png\",\"width\":519,\"height\":189},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Blackbuck \u2013 Hauling the future\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blackbuck \u2013 Hauling the future - Digital Innovation and Transformation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Blackbuck \u2013 Hauling the future - Digital Innovation and Transformation","og_description":"Blackbuck is attempting to solve the inefficiencies in the Indian surface transport sector through a marketplace and technology-enabled services. Its impressive growth and recent funding have attracted various competitors \u2013 including one that questions the logistics platform business model itself.","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/","og_site_name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","og_image":[{"width":519,"height":189,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/blackbuck_logo-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/","name":"Blackbuck \u2013 Hauling the future - Digital Innovation and Transformation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/blackbuck_logo-1.png","datePublished":"2020-03-22T04:03:44+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/blackbuck_logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/blackbuck_logo-1.png","width":519,"height":189},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/blackbuck-hauling-the-future\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Blackbuck \u2013 Hauling the future"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/","name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/11201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11740"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/11201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}