Online
marketplaces Flipkart and Snapdeal could follow in Amazon's footsteps and join
hands with India Post's Bengaluru chapter to provide same-day delivery for
customers in the city according to a senior official in the postal department.
The technology capital is the first city where India Post began delivering
packages to customers of online marketplace Amazon on the day an order is
placed.
"The national postal service is in informal talks with Flipkart and Snapdeal who have responded positively to the metro delivery service," said BS Chandrashekhara, assistant director for business development at the Department of Posts, Karnataka Circle.
Since
April, when the service for Amazon was launched, the department has been
delivering an average of 2000 orders daily in Bengaluru, according to postal
officials. The Bengaluru experiment is a pilot project before the postal
service can make plans for the rest of the country. "We are testing our
own capabilities," said MS Ramanujan, chief post master general of Karnataka,
who said the results of this pilot project in Bengaluru will help the
department draw up similar plans for other cities.
According
to a Goldman Sachs report, the Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow to
$300 billion by 2030. India Post will compete in a market where specialist
delivery firms like Ecom Express, Delhivery and Go Javas are raising venture
funding to expand operations.
Experts
are of the view that India Post with its deep reach even in small towns, can
become a formidable competitor as a full-fledged logistics company. "The
e-commerce companies which are struggling to reach out to all pincodes will
also find India Post the most credible option for last mile deliveries,"
said Arvind Singhal, chairman and managing director of Technopak.
Amazon
which was the first to partner with the postal department has "integrated
its own technology with the postal service for same-day delivery in
Bengaluru," said Amit Agarwal, vice president and country manager of
Amazon India.
Delhi
and Mumbai are next in line for India Post's same -day-delivery, with limited
pin-codes in Chennai and Coimbatore being covered at present. Fashion portal
Myntra is also using India Post's cash-on-delivery service on a pilot basis in
Bengaluru.
The
department prices same-day-delivery orders priced according to average charges
from its speed posts service. The metro delivery service has contributed to 30%
of India Post's total revenue in the city in the last three months according to
department officials.
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