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Ekart steps out of Flipkart’s shadow, starts courier service
As Ekart emerges out of its former parent Flipkart’s shadow, it all set to offer courier services to customers. The logistics provider that was incubated to deliver goods ordered on Flipkart has grown up. It will now take on large courier companies such as DTDC, Blue Dart, DHL and FedEx.
As Ekart emerges out of its former parent Flipkart’s shadow, it all set to offer courier services to customers. The logistics provider that was incubated to deliver goods ordered on Flipkart has grown up. It will now take on large courier companies such as DTDC, Blue Dart, DHL and FedEx.
“We plan to capture 5-10% of the overall courier market, that’s worth `2,200 crore,” said Amitesh Jha, V-P at Ekart.
To start with, the pick-up service will be available only in Bengaluru, where Flipkart started piloting cash-on-delivery, and created a new normal in e-commerce. Soon, the services will be expanded to Delhi, and then to top 8-10 cities by June, and top 50 cities by September. It will deliver to 4,000 locations.
Ekart will have a website and a mobile app. Anyone can book a pick-up. Wish Masters, or delivery boys will come, pack and ship the parcel. They carry anything weighing up to 10kgs, baring perishable food, bullion and precious jewelry. “We will even carry homemade pickle, but we don’t shift houses,” said Jha.
So, no more packing and visiting courier offices. All this is free.
Jha said this is part of a larger vision – to transform India’s supply chain. Recently ekart opened its services to Shopclues, YepMe, Paytm and four others.
“We hope to significantly increase our non-Flipkart and Myntra revenue by the end of this year,” said Jha. At present, it is handling more than eight million orders every month, mostly for Flipkart and Myntra.
