Surge in online shopping upping bottom lines of courier services in Siliguri

EOI, SILIGURI, 1 Aug 2015: Siliguri’s growing appetite for buying goods online is not only boosting e-retailers, it is also giving courier companies good business and creating jobs for hundreds of unemployed youths of town. According to a source, there are five courier companies in Siliguri currently catering to online customers by delivering orders at their doorsteps. 

“These courier services are witnessing a huge jump in business revenue with online shopping coming as a blessing for them. Earlier, they were not faring that well," said the source. DTDC, DHL, Blue Dart Express, Pafex Courier Service and India Post are the five courier services running in Siliguri that have tied up with online business houses, and among them Blue Dart Express is at the forefront thanks to its quick delivery service. 

A Blue Dart Express employee said each day they receive about 700 shipments for delivery to online shoppers. "On a daily average, we receive 450 orders using the Cash on Delivery (COD) option and 250 orders via the prepaid payment mode,” she said. 

The advancement of technology and its reach even to far flung rural areas have come as an added boon for the courier companies as they need to deliver e-retail goods even to such places. 

"A year ago, our business was mainly focused in and around Siliguri, but now within a year it has expanded to rural areas with many people from those places doing online shopping," said an employee of another courier company. It is assumed that online shopping by urban consumers will double over the next two years in Siliguri to 14 per cent from 6 per cent in 2014. 

According to market observers, a fair percentage of young people now purchase items only via the internet, unfortunately affecting local market sales. However, this does not mean providing service to online retailers is easy going. 

A courier service has to scale itself up and be an effective operator. "Network is critical. You have to be ready to deliver to every single address in town. There is a huge expense behind this," an owner of a courier company said, adding “making money from such deliveries is difficult for courier companies. They are generally low-yielding products, and profitability is a concern. If any product is damaged, the bill is levied on us, so it is a risky job as well."