As tier-II and III cities in India open up more to electronic retailing, India Post wants to exploit this opportunity by providing e-commerce players last mile connectivity to their customers.

India Post (also known as Department of Posts) wants to restructure/re-build its parcel network, operations and delivery set up to meet the needs of e-commerce players to cater to their need for transportation and delivery of parcels/packets.

The Department, which comes under the administrative control of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, has 1,39,086 post offices in its network. These post offices provide the last mile delivery link for parcels by reaching out to customers at their doorsteps.

With the help of a consultant, the Department, according to its project document, will examine its existing network in terms of its utility/relevance vis-à-vis the new business opportunities (e-commerce) and emerging clientele and how to make it more effective.

This move comes as e-commerce driven transportation and delivery of parcels and packets is emerging as the new growth engine for the courier, express and parcel market the world over and India.

The network building/optimisation exercise for parcels will enable India Post to improve quality of service, helping it to tap the opportunities offered by e-commerce.

According to its Book of Information, India Post’s parcel product, including speed post and express parcel post, traffic saw a 43 per cent jump in 2011-12 to 40 crore against 28 crore in the previous year.

According to industry body Assocham, India’s e-commerce market increased from about $2.5 billion in 2009 to $16 billion in 2013 and is expected to touch $56 billion by 2023.

Related Topics