DTDC set to expand logistics reach rapidly with the expertise of France based Pickup Service

We recently heard that the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) is reportedly the largest online marketplace in India, even bigger than the likes of Flipkart and Snapdeal. That’s the way to go! Ecommerce is also working wonders for India Post, who repackaged itself to churn out a same-day delivery service.

Although the Indian ecommerce supply chain is riddled with many setbacks, it still is managing to capture the imagination of foreign companies, eager for a share of the Indian ecommerce pie. According to a report by Goldman and Sachs it is expected to reach $300 billion by 2030, from the current $20 billion.

French logistics firm, ‘Pickup Service’ which is part of GeoPost is planning to inject fresh vigour into the country’s last-mile delivery service after announcing plans to enter the Indian market through DotZot, which is owned by DTDC Express Ltd, the popular Indian courier. GeoPost has a 42% stake in DTDC, which it bought from Reliance in July.

PUDO

The synergy of Pickup service along with DTDC aims to ambitiously create a scenario where within the next 12 months, 90% of the country’s online shoppers are fifteen minutes away from a DTDC pick- up shop. Pick up and drop off (PUDO) centres will be be set up to provide ecommerce buyers the opportunity to receive their ordered goods in the close proximity of their workplace and houses.

• The initiative will start in 15 cities this year
• Aims to serve 125 cities, with 6,000 pick up addresses by 2016

It is estimated by DotZot that for every Rs.100 spent by etailers, Rs.35 is lost on:

• Warehousing
• Payment gateways
• Logistics
• Miscellaneous

It is further estimated that for every Rs.100 purchase, there is a loss of:

• Rs.24 on delivery of books
• Rs.13 on delivery of mobiles
• Rs.8 on on delivery of apparel

Locker system not for India

In countries where there is a high parcel delivery volume, locker services have found favour to store orders for customers until they are ready to be picked up. This does not appear to be a core competence of Pickup Service, as it has only 150 lockers in France. It also does not plan to start the service in India, but instead leverage and grow DTDC’s huge potential reach.

“We don’t believe in the idea of parcel lockers as it cannot fully cover a country like India,” said Diego Magdelenat, co-founder and CEO of Pickup Service.