The pandemic has exposed the fractured state of logistics and last-mile connectivity in the country writes Ajay Bulusu.
The diversity of India presents unique challenges that are probably unheard of in developed parts of the world. Like the recent incident where a delivery package of a premier e-commerce website in the country, a photo of which surfaced on Twitter on the evening of July 07, 2020, and immediately went viral. The delivery address read the name of a temple followed by “call me when you are in front of this temple and I will come to pick up the package”. It was one of those instances that make you scratch your head and brings a smile on your face in amusement as it and something that’s totally relatable to Indians.
There cannot be a simpler example of Hyperlocal than this. As organizations go deeper into tier 2 and tier 3 cities, where the real potential lies untapped, they start to face locational and language challenges. Demand for faster delivery has become a norm and to top it all, reports suggest that customers are not willing to trade faster delivery for anything else. As the internet penetrates deep into the hinterlands, e-commerce companies are seeing orders coming from places that were previously unserved/underserved. However, it presents itself with its own linguistic and geographical challenges, unknown to the larger market. It is estimated that 75% of India’s internet user base by 2021 will comprise Indian Language Internet Users (A report by KPMG).
If you look at this scenario with a lens of the Wait-Walk-Talk matrix, you can identify a huge gap between the problem and the current solution in place. In most cases, customers are willing to meet halfway to bridge this gap and compromise enough to step out of their home, speak to the delivery executive and direct them to the address. This solution, however, is shy of the last mile connectivity promised to the end customer by all organizations today. The claim is that they can reach every doorstep, in record time with hassle-free, minimal interaction, reality speaks otherwise.
Today, maintaining a seamless supply chain is non-negotiable. The pandemic has exposed the fractured state of logistics and last-mile connectivity in the country. The Government of India has recognized this and is looking to propel the industry by bringing down the logistics cost from the current 14 pc of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to less than 10 pc by 2022. This clearly signals towards bringing innovation in the space to increase its efficiency and making it more transparent while giving control to the players in improving their trade. Hyperlocal solutions fueled with AI is the solution that can enable route optimization, makes tracking transparent and even aid in real-time updates and scheduling.
The most popular mapping solutions can only show the most used routes but not the exact location. Also, the language used would most likely be English which delivery partners may not be comfortable with. In the emerging markets, the hyperlocal nuances offer unique business opportunities which are led by digital transformation. As opposed to a developed nation, the demographic, language, geography, and densely populated cities in itself provides a good opportunity for being a disruptor in the market.
With precise delivery/pickup addresses across, error distances can be rectified by about 70% from 100m to 20 – 30m even in developed cities. Similarly, we can bring a substantial decrease in calls to driver/delivery boy/postman almost by 40%. With a significant decrease in ETAs and precisely routed navigation, the level of customer experience that can be delivered with accurate knowledge of the geolocations of both customer and driver/delivery partner is beyond any existing industry standards.
This is where democratizing of the maps will help in giving control to the players who are operating in the hyperlocal space. Through offering customization to players in the delivery, ride-hailing, logistics and e-commerce verticals, the companies can build on the open-source APIs to accommodate any requirement they would want to address with the hyperlocal mapping solutions, like local roadblocks, containment zones, new traffic rules, APIs for 2/4 and 16 wheelers. The cab driver can have access to exact location details improving the wait-walk-talk matrix and the overall experience. E-commerce will, of course, arm their delivery ninjas with optimized route plans and faster delivery to wow customers.
As organizations improve on their overall Wait-Walk-Talk matrix, the benefits will directly translate into business-specific enhancement such as loading, unloading times, increased OPEX metrics and cost-saving. It will also boost efficiency in planning the whole network with ripple effects on batching, back to back jobs, allocation, driver earnings, reduction in customer anxiety and help in delivering superior customer experience all around.
The possibilities are endless to innovate in the hyperlocal space and we are sitting at a cusp where the solutions are a reality and the Indian landscape is completely favorable for these innovations. Let us get ready for good times ahead.
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