The challenges of Last mile delivery in Indian Ecommerce Scenario

Abstract

In Business to Consumer (B2C) e-commerce, Last Mile Delivery is the final leg of the supply chain, ie , the last leg of the product‘s trip before it arrives on the customers doorstep. And it is generally the most expensive, least efficient and most problematic part of the overall delivery process. The Indian E-commerce Industry is growing in great momentum. Compared to just in 8 million in 2012, in 2014, about 35 million people are buying products online. This number is expected to grow almost three times to 100 million in the next two years. The industry has seen many-fold growth over the years, but the logistics and delivery segment that caters to e-retailing have not seen much growth during the period. The success of ecommerce business largely depends upon an efficient last mile delivery. But the ecommerce logistics in India suffers with several bottlenecks .Currently, the logistics and delivery companies service less than a third of India‘s postcodes. In India as fast growth in ecommerce is mainly triggered from smaller cities and towns, a robust delivery network to reach the remotest town is need of the hour. The study aims to identify the importance of last Mile delivery, the present situation of Last Mile Delivery in India, the future prospects and a comparison of last mile delivery in India with other developed markets .The study also tries to identify the changing role of Indian Postal System in E-commerce last mile delivery in India. The study is based on the analysis of the secondary data only published in Newspapers, Periodicals, Journals and various websites. In future, e-commerce companies that can deliver the goods and services at a reasonable cost will have the edge. The ability to fulfil and deliver orders on time could determine an e-tailer‘s success. Many Indian Companies are adopting a range of new technologies that may help them overcome the last mile challenges.