The
postal department is gaining ground as a popular e-commerce delivery
platform with more online retailers tying up with it to deliver parcels.
From March, post offices will start delivering orders of major players
like Flipkart and Naaptol too.
At present, the department has tied up with 143 e-commerce players, the
major one being Amazon, for delivery of articles in Tamil Nadu. Of
these, nearly 100 are from Chennai. Nearly 5,500 products ordered online
either through prepaid or cash-on-delivery modes are being delivered
daily.
“We are now concentrating on faster delivery of articles on the same day
and monitoring complaints for better delivery service,” said J.T.
Venkateswarulu, Postmaster general (mails and business development)
said.
The articles received at Ekkaduthangal warehouse and St.Thomas Mount
Speed Post centre are despatched in three days. “Nearly 98 per cent of
the products are now delivered directly on the same day to customers in
the city. Instead of sending them through 65 delivery post offices in
the city, these products are directly despatched from St. Thomas Mount.
Flipkart is already delivering a few articles through post offices on a
trial basis. It will start full-fledged operations in Chennai from
March,” Mr.Venkateswarulu said.
Besides small and medium retailers, institutions like Tamil Nadu Open
University also use the service. The department earned Rs.8.7 crore
through e-commerce initiatives last year. Chennai contributes to nearly
50 per cent of the revenue. Of the Rs.370 crore revenue targeted this
year (January to December), post offices plan to earn Rs.15 crore
through e-commerce in the State, officials said. “We are expecting
business to increase by nearly Rs.2.5 crore a year once Flipkart and
Naaptol start providing products for delivery,” he added.
The department has also introduced a text message service where
customers will be informed of product delivery by the postal staff
members. Moreover, State Bank of India will start using speed post
services of post offices to deliver debit cards and cheque books from
March, officials added.
Source: The Hindu
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