Leveraging the e commerce sector for revenue generation in India post

Abstract

This paper is an effort to explore the opportunity available for India Post to increase its revenue by placing itself as a reliable logistic service provider for e retailing sector in India. As per the projections by various consultants and research organisations, India is one of the fastest growing e commerce market in the world. Increased internet penetration and mobile internet usage with changing demographic structure is the key enabler for this sector. However, having a strong ware housing and delivery sector will be the differentiator for the e retailers and hence a reliable and robust last mile connectivity is an important factor contributing to the success of the e commerce sector. India Post with its strong presence across the country through its vast network of the post office can become a game changer for the sector by positioning itself as a reliable service provider. To harness this great opportunity, it has to offer a product which is custom made to suit the requirement of the e commerce sector by investing in its value chain. Even though IP has introduced two parcel products viz., express parcel and business parcel to cater to the e commerce sector they are not able to improve the market share of IP and is showing a stagnant growth pattern since its launch. Hence in this paper I am proposing to introduce a new product exclusively to target the online sellers of high value products by capturing the brand image of India Post. By providing specialised service through this exclusive parcel product IP will be able to establish itself as a reliable service provider. Once established in the niche sector, enhancing the market share in the regular e retailing sector will be an easier task on account of the improved brand image and consistent reliability. Simultaneously, IP should streamline the operating procedure of existing parcel products and take effort to iron out the pain points of the existing major customers.