Without a reliable delivery mechanism, major e-retailers enter into agreement with India Post
Officials of the Postal Department update details of the parcels that they handle onto the computer system. -DC
Chennai: Fifty-one year old S. Pushpalatha is a postwoman attached to the Anna Road post office, with more than 20 years of service behind her. “While, say a year ago, I used to deliver five e-commerce shipments at the most, per day, the volume has more than doubled now and this, I believe, is due to the growing popularity of e-shopping,” she says. Devoid of a reliable delivery mechanism, major e-retailers like Amazon, Snapdeal and Flipkart, amongst others, have entered into agreements with India Post to deliver their shipments. Till date, around 120 e-commerce firms have tied up with the postal department.
As Mr T. Murthy, chief postmaster general (Tamil Nadu circle) says, though personal communication in the form of letters have noticeably dropped in the recent past, “We are witnessing a boom in the number of business and commercial mails handled by the department.”The single greatest advantage of India Posts is its unmatched delivery reach. There are currently 12,062 post offices in the state with each post office covering 10.82 square km. “Often, it is the postman who is the most well-known person in a locality. They know the area that they serve like the back of their hand. As a result, we are in a position to meet the delivery demands of our clients,” said the chief postmaster general.
Going a step further, a marketing executive in the business post centre, HQ, said they do not necessarily treat private couriers as competitors. “There have been instances earlier when we have had them using our services to deliver their mails!” he exclaimed.Citing the trust factor as a major pulling factor for them, the marketing official recalled an incident. “A major jeweller in the city once entrusted the delivery of their marketing letters to a private courier firm. But after a week, the letters were found dumped on the Marina beach. After all, it is accountability that counts and if this is guaranteed, customers will be satisfied.”
Last year, nearly 2.5 lakh parcels (e-commerce related) were handled by the postal department. This year, till now, more than 3 lakh parcels have been handled. On an average, the department handles 28,000 parcel packages per day. The department estimates that this amount could easily double in the next six months.
“Nowadays, the younger generation increasingly prefer shopping online and as such, we are aware of its immense potential. With the demand for efficient logistics on the rise, we are definitely interested in cornering that business,” Mr Moorthy said.
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