ClickPost new feature allows e-commerce deliveries to be marked essential

May 11, 2021: ClickPost has announced the introduction of an ‘Essential’ goods option on its platform.

This feature will enable e-commerce companies to mark specific items and orders as essential, allowing courier partners to deliver these products to Covid-restricted areas across the country.

This announcement comes at a time when India has witnessed a record rise in Covid-19 cases. The second wave of the virus sweeping across the country has led to widespread lockdowns and localised micro-containment zones. As a result, many families are left stranded and unable to access vital household supplies, medical items, and other essential goods.

This situation has also had a wider impact through its effect on businesses and industries. The numerous restrictions placed on deliveries to areas under a lockdown frequently result in vital shipments – including medicines, ventilators, and other Covid-adjacent supplies – being sent back as RTO (Return to Origin) orders.

ClickPost’s introduction of the ‘Essential’ option aims to directly address these issues. Through the use of a new API integration provided by shipping partners, e-commerce businesses will now be able to tag specific orders as essential while generating individual airway bills (AWB). These orders can then be shipped and safely reach their destination in accordance with Covid-19 restrictions.

Prashant Gupta, co-founder and CTO of ClickPost, said, “With curfews and restrictions now imposed across the country, the nation’s reliance on e-commerce retailers is higher than ever before. Courier partners have started to upgrade their APIs to allow e-commerce companies to mark shipments as 'essential', during the waybill generation stage. This option is being made available over APIs by few courier partners currently, and we are working with all major courier partners to enable this feature across the nation.”

Although the primary purpose of this feature is to ensure the uninterrupted shipment of essential items during the pandemic, this feature also has enormous applicability in a post-COVID future. Allowing partners to categorise and prioritise critical shipments will aid in any situation where restrictions hinder order.

ClickPost is introducing new features on a weekly basis, to make everything from categorising orders before shipping to checking the quality of orders being returned more efficient and easily managed.