Flipkart has launched an alternate delivery model which allows customers to pick up the products they have ordered at a location and time that suits them.

Flipkart has set up pickup centres, or Experience Zones, at 20 locations which attract high sales volumes of 700-800 shipments a day in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Vellore, Gurgaon, Vadodara and Surat.

The new delivery model, which Flipkart has been perfecting since November, will reduce its last-mile delivery costs by 25-30 per cent, at a time when e-commerce players are grappling with mounting delivery costs.

“We are moving from the orthodox doorstep delivery model to an alternate delivery model, to make life convenient for frequent buyers busy in meetings or not present at home during the delivery.

“Restricted entry of delivery boys into IT parks, gated communities and educational institutions often results in customers having to wait an entire day to receive the shipment.

“We will ramp up to 100 Experience Zones pan-India by March,” Neeraj Aggarwal, Senior Director, Delivery Operations, told BusinessLine . The Experience Zones, which are located in IT Parks like the Electronics City Tech Park, Bengaluru, and outside the Infosys campus, Mysuru are of 500-1,000 sq ft, of which 70 per cent constitutes the storage area.

The rest of the area will form the reception where customers can pick up their purchases, make instant returns/exchanges and receive open box deliveries.

Plans are on to provide value-added services in the Experience Zones such as trial rooms, product demos, third-party services such as alteration of garments and assisted buying of products.

“Currently, we enjoy 89 per cent success on our deliveries which drops to 75 per cent when delivering to IT Parks, gated communities, universities, government offices etc.

“Now, we are offering a customer driven, 100 per cent guaranteed delivery model, where they order online and pick up from Experience Zones.

“Through this model we are targeting to deliver 15-20 per cent of all our shipments by March,” said Aggarwal.

Flipkart enables eight million shipments per month through its dedicated logistics provider, eKart, which constitutes 85 per cent of all its deliveries.

“We are looking at non-linear models of ramping up deliveries, such as Electronic Lockers that customers can open with a password and pin number.

“The commercial feasibility study is on right now and we are in talks with potential partners for the same,” said Aggarwal.

The alternate delivery model will also form a key element of Flipkart’s rural expansion strategy where Tier IV towns with population of less than one lakh will be serviced from a central Experience Zone as an alternate to door delivery.

“We service 10,000 of the 25,000 pincodes in India. This model will help us penetrate unreachable locations by making it economically viable,” said Aggarwal.

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