Page 14 - ITLN July - Aug 2023 for Magzter

Cover Story
E-commerce
Logistics

e-commerce, reported that the same
thing is going to the tier two, tier three
and tier four towns. “E-commerce is an
established way of doing business for
every company across all categories.
What is very exciting is that the cost
per serve is coming down. And that is
because all of the companies, including
service providers, are working together
to bring scale, speed and the right cost
for the customers. That was one area
which was waiting to be tackled,” he said.
The last-mile logistics and
hyperlocal delivery is one of the most
sophisticated and important parts Singhal noted that a high percentage
of e-commerce supply chains that of RTOs occur in e-commerce on a
requires tremendous attention to bring daily basis due to communication
efficiency and speed. For instance, gaps with the customer. He said, “This
CABT Logistics is an intra-city 3PL cannot be zero at any given point in
service provider for e-commerce time, but, the lesser the number the
that focus on pick-up from the better it is for a shipper.”
same city and delivery in the same “Another pain point is return as
city. Explaining the CABT’s strategy customers are returning products after
to focus on intra-city rather than one or two days and that is very that is a
intercity deliveries, Singhal noted huge number. So, we are offering a very
that they have a clear focus on the flexible and customised reverse shipment
speed of logistics which is a future service so that it does not attract any
for e-commerce. He said, “We are losses to the seller,” he added.
focusing on six to 12 hours of delivery Profitability can be Product quality is the biggest factor
which is same-day deliveries and attained in a very short to affect customer experience. The
that is why we are more expanding in span of time if the quality of a product is a significant
hyperlocal and same-city space rather proper focus is paid drawback for end customers as it can
than building my network in multiple on cross-utilisation severely disrupt their experience. For
cities and connecting them.” example, Yash Jain, founder and CEO
Beyond the need for speed, one of and optimisation of the e-commerce logistics aggregator
the biggest challenges in e-commerce of resources and NimbusPost, noted that poor product
business compared to the traditional deliveries. quality can lead to dissatisfaction,
retail business is in providing the product failures, and a lack of reliability.
customer experience. As the customers Himanshu Singhal “Plus, if they face issues such as
and products are located miles apart, CABT Logistics frequent repairs, malfunctions, or even
e-commerce devoids customers from safety concerns, all this can result in
experiencing the products with their So you do not have to physically go to a additional costs, inconvenience, and a
hands. Singhal informed that to fill store but you can sit at your place and loss of trust in the brand,” he added.
this gap, e-commerce companies are you can experience the product you are “RTO is the biggest drawback
coming up with augmented reality and buying,” he said. e-commerce sellers have to deal
virtual reality. In fact, the provision of Another way in which e-commerce with. Delayed deliveries, fake delivery
reverse logistics itself is part of this companies try to improve the customer remarks by delivery partners and
gap in customer experience. But it experience is by allowing reverse logistics fraudulent orders are some of the
also creates a logistics nightmare for by which the customer can return or primary reasons that lead to high
many shippers. replace the products if it is not meeting his RTO,” he added.
expectations. Absent in traditional retail, Jain also pointed out that dependency
The challenge of reverse RTO and return are also the biggest pain on a single courier partner often leads
logistics in CX points for shippers/sellers operating in the to undelivered shipments and delayed
“Augmented reality and virtual reality e-commerce business. RTO is when an deliveries that can significantly bring
are expected to be part of e-commerce attempt to deliver a shipment to a customer down customer loyalty and hamper
very soon which means that by fails, as he's not responding to calls or he's a brand’s reputation. “During peak
wearing VR headsets at your home you not present at his address, and the delivery seasons and sales events, companies
can experience shopping in real time. boy brings back that shipment. experience a surge in volume, leading
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