E-commerce majors and companies are racing to fulfil orders this festive season as they pivot from the earlier timelines of 4-5 days delivery to same-day or next-day delivery.
With quick commerces looking to capture user base with 10-12 minute delivery, e-commerce players are looking to enhance delivery timelines.
Logistics experts said the demand for fast delivery has surged dramatically compared to last year’s festive sales.
Over the past year, e-commerce majors and D2C firms have introduced same-day and next-day services to cater to customer demands.
Logistics players have noted a surge in demand by 4-5x for same-day and next-day deliveries.
“Delivery speeds during the festive season naturally improve due to increased demand, with line-haul trucks operating more frequently, however, this year we have seen a surge in fast delivery requests,” said Vishwachetan Nadamani, Chief Operating Officer, Ecom Express.
In February this year, the company rolled out same-day and next-day deliveries in India’s top 10 metro cities.
Faser Fulfilment
Echoing the same thought, Praharsh Chandra, CBO and Co-founder, Shadowfax said that e-commerce platforms and retailers are leveraging same-day delivery as a competitive advantage, responding to growing consumer expectations for faster fulfilment, especially during peak periods.
“At Shadowfax, our same-day delivery channel saw a five-fold growth on the first and second day of sales this year. Peak order volumes from last year to this year have increased by almost four times, with highlights like delivering 15,000 iPhones on day one of the sale,” said Chandra.
Key categories such as electronics, beauty and personal care, fashion, and home goods have seen strong interest.
“Based on sales, the category with the highest demand has been electronics, especially mobile phones, and the second highest is fashion,” Chandra added.
According to a report by Redseer Consultancy, this festive season players such as Amazon, Meesho, Flipkart and others are expected to clock a 20 per cent year-on-year rise in gross merchandise value, generating sales in the range of ₹1-1.2 lakh crore.