JOIN USInternational logistics giant DHL has announced plans to tap the burgeoning B2C ecommerce space in India, on the back of a multi-pronged strategy — developing low-cost solutions, a customer-centric first- and last-mile connectivity, geographical reach, and on-time delivery.
Talking to DH, DHL eCommerce Chief Executive Officer Charles Brewer said, “We intend to become the provider of choice for the ecommerce sector in India. We already have a domestic delivery company, Blue Dart, and over the coming months, we intend to build market-leading solutions for the B2C ecommerce sector.”
Meanwhile, Blue Dart also has a successful B2C model in place, having delivered over 40 million packages last year, apart from moving 120 million packages under the B2B (delivering official couriers between two companies) business.
“Over the coming year, we will deploy new solutions such as delivery windows, parcel lockers and parcel shops for the Indian market, which will ensure accuracy and timeliness in delivery, also allowing end-customers to effectively participate in the delivery of shipments. We have launched a parcel locker / autosorter / mobile service centre which will be further enhanced. In terms of delivery windows, customers can choose the time span in which they would prefer to have the shipment delivered. We will begin with a three-hour window, which will get narrowed eventually,” Brewer said.
Explaining the difficulties of the ecommerce sector, Brewer said that among the challenges in the B2C sector, is that 90% of all deliveries are made to residential addresses, and the cost-effectiveness of the delivery must be maintained. “The biggest test yet is on improving delivery success rate — ‘how to get the shipment delivered the first time itself’,” he said.
Talking about the challenges and opportunities in the ecommerce space for a logistics provider, Brewer said, “If you are a merchant or small ecommerce firm, a fundamental challenge would be about getting products delivered to customers in the first place. While it’s easy to build a website to sell products, how to have them shipped to customers? Also, there arise challenges like traffic and weather which delivery boys must contend with.”
“As a company, we notice that the reach of ecommerce is increasing beyond just metros. We are specially focused on three areas namely, cross-border ecommerce, having our own fulfillment centres, and fostering efficient first- and last-mile delivery,” he added.