Logistics players such as DTDC, Delhivery and GoJaVAS see potential business as e-commerce firms push for faster delivery by charging customers extra for the product being delivered.
But all e-tailers have to gain the early bird advantage by adopting the differential pricing model before the premium business grows, they point out.
At present, not all websites charge a premium for same- or next-day guaranteed delivery. Amazon and Flipkart charge extra for such guaranteed delivery services, while Snapdeal does not. This gives customers the option to hunt for websites that do not charge extra.
Moreover, fast delivery is now plain vanilla for many products in key metros.
“We already provide same-day and next-day delivery to most of our clients as part of the standard service,” says Sahil Baruah, co-founder, Delhivery, which delivers 50,000-60,000 products every day for large e-tailers.
Delhivery takes 1.3 days on an average to deliver products in metros and some key cities. If tier-2 and -3 cities are included, the average time for product delivery is 2.2, said Baruah. It charges a premium of ₹99-149 only when it delivers in eight and four hours, respectively. “We provide this service for select clients based out of our fulfilment centres in Bombay, Bangalore and the Delhi-National Capital Region,” said Baruah.
“The extent to which same- or next-day delivery will catch up will depend on all players migrating to differentiated delivery pricing,” he said. DTDC Courier, a firm which has an e-commerce delivery segment, also said it would be a while before people start paying extra in the online market space. “I am yet to see many end-customers willing to pay a premium for faster deliveries, specifically in the e-commerce segment, though in the general courier business, this segment has grown by 30-40 per cent,” said Abhishek Chakraborty, Executive Director of DTDC Courier and Cargo.
Demand-driver“Demand is driven by occasions such as birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day; or the launch of much-awaited books such as those in the Shiva trilogy or phone models,” said Vijay Ghatge, Chief Operating Officer, GoJaVAS, an independent logistics provider for e-commerce players.
Delhivery caters to over 500 such orders every day in Mumbai, mostly products such as cameras, laptops and apparel, said Baruah, adding that they have even delivered a phone in 17 minutes in the NCR.
DTDC also sees occasion-based demands from high net worth individuals.
Baruah said: “We have to move to a model where customers pay differentially and choose across prime/super-prime, same-day, next-day, time-defined, 3-5 business day or 7+ business day shipping. This is also the only way for e-commerce companies to sensibly manage their logistics costs.”