E-commerce, travel and logistics

E-commerce, travel and logistics is the software of buying, eating, travelling and moving goods. This Domain of the product-companies collection holds the companies that sell to people online, the software that shops and restaurants run on, the apps that deliver food and book trips, and the systems that plan, store, carry and track goods on their way to the door. Much of it is consumer software used by millions of people at once, and much of the rest is business software sold to retailers, airlines and shippers. India is both a builder and a market here. Global marketplaces, travel sites and supply-chain companies build their products in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Pune, beside India's own marketplaces, delivery apps, travel apps and courier networks.

Amazon is told separately. (More on it in Amazon, in the big-tech collection.) The engineering centres that retailers, consumer-goods makers, logistics companies, hotels and airlines run for themselves in India, each a GCC (global capability centre), are told separately too. (More on them in Parent Industry 3, Inside the retailers and consumer-goods companies, Parent Industry 6, Inside the logistics operators and distributors and Parent Industry 10, Inside hotels, airlines, property firms and the rest, in the GCC collection.)

The Domain's five Industry Verticals follow what people buy and how it reaches them, the goods in E-commerce and D2C brands, the sellers' tools in Retail tech, the meal in Foodtech and quick commerce, the trip in Travel tech, and the journey of the goods in Supply chain and logistics. Every company named in this Domain has posted software engineering jobs in India.

E-commerce and D2C brands

E-commerce and D2C brands is where people buy. Its companies run the online marketplaces, the resale apps, the brands that sell from their own apps, the retailers, the platforms that sell to other businesses and the apps that book a service, like eBay, Flipkart, Meesho, Nykaa and Urban Company, and more is on the E-commerce and D2C brands page.

Retail tech

Retail tech is the software that sellers run their stores on. Its companies build the online store and its checkout, set the prices, run the counter in the shop, check the shelf and prove that a product is genuine, like Fynd, GoKwik, Impact Analytics, PDI Technologies and NCR Voyix, and more is on the Retail tech page.

Foodtech and quick commerce

Foodtech and quick commerce brings meals and groceries to the door in minutes. Its companies run the delivery apps, the kitchens that cook only for delivery, the software restaurants run on and the chains built around their own software, like Swiggy, Zepto, Rebel Foods, Toast and Chai Point, and more is on the Foodtech and quick commerce page.

Travel tech

Travel tech is how a trip is planned, booked and paid for. Its companies run the travel sites, the reservation systems underneath them, business travel, hotel pricing, and the visa and the money for abroad, like Agoda, MakeMyTrip, Amadeus, Navan and RateGain, and more is on the Travel tech page.

Supply chain and logistics

Supply chain and logistics moves the goods. Its companies plan what to make and stock, run the warehouse and its robots, plan and find the trucks, track the shipment, handle the last mile and the port, and run delivery networks, like Blue Yonder, GreyOrange, Locus, project44 and Delhivery, and more is on the Supply chain and logistics page.

Where the verticals meet

Speed pulls the verticals together. A ten-minute grocery order from Instamart or Zepto looks like a delivery app, but underneath it is a dark store, a small warehouse whose stock is forecast by the hour, and a rider whose route is planned by a model. Retailers like Reliance Retail are turning their stores into warehouses in the same way, the warehouse-robot makers test their machines in India's dark stores, and the pricing software of Retail tech has to keep pace with apps whose prices change all the time. Companies cross the lines as well. The marketplace noon also runs warehouse software, and Grab, a service app, also runs last-mile delivery.

An Indian online order is a thread through three Industry Verticals. A shopper on a brand's own website pays at a checkout from Retail tech, like GoKwik, which judges whether a cash-on-delivery order is likely to be refused at the door. The order is packed with warehouse software built for online sellers, like Unicommerce. The parcel then passes to shipping software, like ClickPost or Shipway, which picks the courier most likely to deliver it the first time, and to a network like Delhivery or DTDC, built on routing and sorting software as much as on trucks.

Across the Domain, the companies are building AI that acts for the customer. Marketplaces and online stores are turning the search box into an assistant, travel sites are building assistants that plan and book a whole trip, business-travel platforms are building agents that rebook a cancelled flight, and the planning software of o9 Solutions and Aera Technology acts on its own plans. For an engineer, the Domain falls into two halves. The consumer apps, the marketplaces, delivery apps and travel sites, hire Java and mobile engineers for software used by millions at once. The software sold to retailers, airlines and shippers hires Java and .NET engineers, and the warehouse robots add firmware and C/C++ work.

That is Domain VII, E-commerce, travel and logistics, from the moment something is wanted to the moment it reaches the door.