Future and Challenges for eTailing Logistics in India

Over the last two decades, rising internet and mobile phone penetration has changed the way we communicate and do business. E-commerce is no more a novel concept in India. There has been no doubt about the growth prospects of e-commerce in India. According to the Gurgaon-based consultancy Technopak, the $2.3-billion (Rs 13,800 crore) Indian eCommerce sector will touch $32 billion (Rs 1.92 lakh crore) by 2020. But for this to happen, the logistics sector - the link between eCommerce stores and customers must keep pace with the rate of growth in eCommerce.

At an e-tailing event in Gurgaon, the chief executive of a logistics company, while narrating his own experience, conveyed that during the festive season of Diwali, he was expecting the number of orders to double but, it went up by four to five times and led to a logjam.

Logistics startups are playing a critical role to help the logistics issue with the new e-tailers that are starting and help them during the peak seasons. There are various challenges for these logistics companies as the consumer behaviour in India is slightly different.

1. Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities will emerge as extended market and thus, it will lead to have a wider network to cater to the customers here. It is necessary to develop a network of branches and delivery points that will be able to service the high-growth cities.
2. Cash On Delivery need better cash handling capabilities. With higher volumes and customers looking for CoD, the companies not only have to effectively manage the cash but, handle it securely as it is not their money but, their clients. On top of that reconciliation issues and calculating the returns will add to the problems.
3. Delivery staff will be on high demand. Online marketplaces, etailers and logistics firms all will chase delivery boys to reach customers. The industry may face multiple pressures like high attrition and rising salaries. In addition to this, the industry has to look at the honesty and integrity of these staff as they will handle the products to deliver and more and more cash.
4. Reverse logistics is other big challenge to manage. It is not just the product that has to be carried back to the merchant but, cash as well if it is CoD.
5. Special and precious products will be added like medicines, jewellery etc. which will also be a challenge to the logistic industry. Such products may increase the requirement of special treatment and adds complexity.
6. Till now these logistics providers have tried to deliver locally by road. They also need to focus on other modes of transports like metro trains and other means to avoid traffic issues. While transporting from city to city there can be constraints for transportations through air as there may be container constraints and security issues.
7. Above all the different tax structure in different states will add up to the problem.

To cope up with these small with difficult challenges etailers needs to look at niche market areas which can give them high volumes. It will be difficult to find such business but, if you can then you have it. Also, in case you have a high margin business then that is the icing on the cake. These focused and high margins business will focus on high returns.

Here are few logistics companies which you can depend on. I suggest, have talks with all of them and sign-up with at least three of them so that you are ready when the flood comes and the deliveries are on time. Keep in mind that the sales of startups is mostly through word-of-mouth and an unhappy customer will tell hundreds of others but, a happy customer will tell to very few people.

Ecom Express: Launched in Jan 2013, they are making about 85,000 shipments a day. Claims to cover 207 cities and 2240 pin codes.
GoJavas: Launched around 2013, and their first client was Jabong - the online fashion and lifestyle etailer. Today it serves 200 companies and claims that it delivers to 2300 pin codes and covers about 105 cities.
Delhivery: Was started in April 2011 by Sahil Barua and two others who worked at Bain and Company, a consulting firm. Claims to cover 175 cities, 3600 pin codes and does about a lakh shipments a day.
eKart: It helps Flipkart with the deliveries.
Holisol Logistics: Started in 2009, offers warehouse consulting solutions. A year ago it expanded to deliveries. It is a single vendor for logistics, warehousing and fulfillment services for seamless flow of information. The company has set up a one-lakh-sq-ft warehouse for Jabong and a 1.6-lakh-sq-ft warehouse for FabFurnish at Jamalpur and Bilaspur in Gurgaon, respectively. The firm offers delivery services for e-taliers like Jabong and Freecultr and offline sellers like Raymond and Biba Apparels.

There are other courier companies as well which took the eCommerce and etailing industry lightly earlier.

Dotzot: Launched by DTDC in June 2013 with a delivery network of 8000 plus pin codes and 2300 cities.
Gati E-connect is another one which has also joined this logistics service. They claim to reach 5120 direct pin codes  and reach to 15,400 remote pin codes enabling to reach your business to the remote places.

Cash on Delivery seems here to stay, and the problems of that last-mile of delivery, and unreliable third party couriers will take at least a decade to resolve. In the meantime, the businesses that make it will either have huge margins on each order to cover the cost of these difficulties. It is very much important for startups and etailiers that the service which these logistics partner provides needs to be the best one at the price they can afford.

Such logistics companies should build algorithms using not only RFM (Recency, Frequency and Monetary values) but need to consider the distance as well. The use of technology is very important where in the deliveries need to be automatically allocated depending on the above factors and algorithm.

Happy know your thoughts and experience with the logistics partners. Feel free to share.

Alternate Online Payment Options to Boost Online Sales

Most of the ecommerce sites provide their customers numerous payment options including PayPal and cash-on-delivery. Most of the payment gateways accept all types of credit cards and debit cards. They also provide secure payment options but...

• Are we really sure these will help in increasing sales?
• How will your payment options attract the untapped customers?
• How can these increase the online sales?

Here, I have done a research for a while and have tried to provide the alternate online payment options which can be provided on the ecommerce website that can help you increase the online sales. As these payment options can attract the untapped customers who do not want to use their credit cards or debit cards over the internet. Many people don't have credit or debit cards, or even bank accounts, and some are simply reluctant to give their financial details online. U.S. consumers used cash to make about $1.2 trillion in purchases last year, according to research firm Aite Group. Still, Americans without bank cards face hassles trying to pay bills, shop online, or make travel reservations.


These alternate payment options thus, open up new markets and customers to which you can sell the products and/or services.

Vouchers

There are a lot of companies which offer vouchers. But, the best and popular ones are UKash and paysafesard.

Ukash is an established international company that provides an alternative way for people to pay for goods and services online. Users enjoy using Ukash because it is easy and there are no age restrictions. No credit or debit cards are needed and you don't even have to share any personal or financial details.

UKash is accepted in almost 33 countries.

paysafecard also works on the same method as UKash. Your customers can get the paysafecard worth $10, $25, $50 or $100 from a local store. paysafecard is available from 300.000 sales outlets worldwide. When one buys a paysafecard they get a 16-digit PIN printout that the customer can enter at the online store which accepts it. No personal data or bank account details are required. To pay for larger amounts, up to $500, you can easily combine up to ten paysafecards.
Please note that Ukash charges 6.5% of sales while paysafecard charges 9.5%. Since people buy them at convenience stores, the cost is high. But, they provide you instant access to people who do not want to use cards as well as people who do not have cards.

Ukash is popular in Britain and they started to expand to South America also recently. paysafecard is very popular in Germany, Austria and the german speaking belt.

Since this is prepaid format, there are no issues of any chargebacks or fraud transactions.
 
eWallets
 
The popular in eWallets are moneybookers.com and Neteller.
 

Since becoming the first emoney issuer to obtain an electronic money licence from the FSA it’s taken Moneybookers less than a decade to change the world of online payments. With their mix of consumer and business focused solutions they have become one of Europe's leading digital money companies operating one of the world's largest independent eWallet platforms on the internet.
 
Moneybookers helps online business web sites accept credit and debit cards. For the most part, when you use Moneybookers, you are only able to accept credit and debit. It's a very basic payment gateway – a simple solution for many small businesses. Moneybookers processes payments in such a way as to help your customers feel secure, since they are not giving personal payment information to the seller.


Moneybookes help online businesses to get access over 100 payment options with one simple integration, all backed with fraud and chargeback protection. One of the main advantages to using a Moneybookers payment gateway is the lack of fees. There are no set up fees, nor are there monthly fees. Social Security Number and address verification checks are available at no cost. Many of these benefits are also available when you sign up for what is known as the "eBay accepted payment option." You can even accept international payments. The only fees charged are transaction fees, and those are based on your monthly sales.

Most of the online gaming and casino websites offers NETeller as alternative payment options. NETeller is an online secure funds transfer service operator. With any action, there has to be a counteraction. That’s why, with the explosion in e-commerce, online purchases and gaming over the last few years, there has also been a major surge in the demand for secure online funds transfer services. NETeller has stayed ahead of its competitors through incredible service offerings, competitive rates and all-round good customer relations. This has led to NETeller becoming the top-of-mind online funds transfer service in a short time since it began operations in 1999. Online consumers can instantly move funds to and from any merchant site that is affiliated with NETeller.

Pay Cash at local store

You can conviniently as your customers to buy online and pay cash near a local store.

PayNearMe follows a simple 3-step process. After selecting an item online to purchase or a payment to make, customers:

PayNearMe intends to make it both cheaper and easier for consumers to pay for everything with cash by visiting a 7-Eleven.

Direct Bank Transfers

There are lot of options for direct bank transfer like www.envoyservices.com. They have already integrated lot of bank transfer gateways so it makes an ecommerce life easy.

Providing additional and alternative payment options can help in increasing the online sales by 15-20%. The important think is you are increasing the market and thus, the customer base.

I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this alternative payment options.

9 Key Steps for eCommerce Optimization to Increase Conversions and Sales

Most of the online business invest much in marketing campaigns. These marketing campaigns will really pay-off well if these camapaigns generate leads which they will, and these leads convert to sales. So, how to convert these leads to sales and how to optimize the whole eCommerce process - here are few key steps.

1. Study and improving the user-interface to make the buying process more easy and simple
2. Study and analyze to reduce shopping cart abandons (I will try to post about this in more detail)
3. Using analytics to help in increasing conversions
4. Identifying the conversion leaks and reduce it
5. Making the eStore search engine friendly
6. Use of virtual agents to help eCommerce customers happy, increase cross-sell and repeat sales
7. Use of social media to expand in that market as well
8. Suggestions of special offers and promotions to boost sales 
9. Last but not the least, let the visitors know that their credit card transactions on the website are secured

Avoid Credit Card Thefts – Skimmers On Prowl

The most prominent places where you can lose the credit card information to these skimmers is when you want to give your credit card to pay your bill like hotel or food bills. The modus-operandi is, when you flash your debit or credit for your purchases, and if the shop keeper wants to steal the credit card or debit card info, he/she will just swipe your card on a small electronic device called skimmer. This device will copy all the information that is available in the magnetic strip of your card. And it is easy for the thief to make a duplicate card. Using this duplicate card now the thief is ready to make offline and online purchases – in case the thief notes the CVV no. as well.

The prominent places which have been categorized as notorious for such skimming are mostly the south-west countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Hong Kong to name a few. You will be lured by attractive tour packages, amazing deals for the shopping festivals and go for a shopping spree without knowing how much risk you have it here to flash your credit card. Other places where this can happen are gas stations, restaurants, pubs where the cards are flashed and taken away from you to swipe for the transaction.

It is impossible to stop such kinds of thefts but, it is always better to take our own precautions. Few tips which can be followed to save you from such theft –

1. Memorize the CVV no. and erase it from the back side of the card. You can erase the CVV no. or blacken it out with a permanent marker. This way you can be spared by online thefts.
2. Activate mobile alert or email alerts for the transactions made from your card if it exceeds certain threshold amount.
3. If at all you have flashed the card in the above named countries and you doubt that you card has been copied, then immediately block the card and request for a new card.

Do let me know if there are any more tips or precautions need to be taken care for. It would be helpful to everyone.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Top 10 Automated Email Programs to Increase Online Sales

It is really tough to follow your customers, prospects or subscribers regularly. The best way is to have an auto-generated email programs which will trigger at the appropriate time. Here is the list of top 10 automated emails which can be triggered to increase the online sales.

1. Welcome Email: Whenever there is a subscription or first purchase, welcome the guest with an email introducing about the various products and services you offer. A special discount offer or top 10 HOT products can boost their interest and help in increasing the sales.
2. Cart Abandoning: An auto-email sent to visitors once they have abandoned the shopping cart will act as a friendly reminder. A email can be triggered after 2-3 days and the visitor can come back and complete the shopping thus, avoiding the prospect from searching all over again and avoid them from hitting the competitors websites.
3. Transaction Success Email: Let your customers know that the online payment made by them was successful. The intention of the email is to refer them some related products or services or submit a product review.
4. Referral Request: Let your satisfied customers refer more customers to you. Request them to refer their friends to your website. Word-of-mouth is the most economical and the best way to promote your business.
5. Reminder Campaigns: Do remind your customers if they have not made a purchase in a set considerable time period. Such customers can be offered special discounts or offers to avoid them from going to competitors.
6. After-sales Email: Thank your customers when they complete the purchase. You can have a satisfaction survey or a poll to know their shopping experience. Accordingly, you can act on the changes or feedback suggested. (#3, 4 and 6 can be considered as one program).
7. Browsing Behavior Email: Understand the browsing behavior of the customers using a good analytics program and trigger the email with suggestions and offers. Thus, you not only make their purchase easy, but will also make a sale.
8. Special Occasion Email: Who does not liked to receive greetings on their birthday or anniversary. Have a email program which will trigger greetings email to them on their birthdays or anniversaries. You can have such campaigns on special festivals as well to promote the business.
9. Stock Notifications: Have an email reminder field in the product pages where you have out-of-stock messages. If the visitor wants to know when the product is back in stock can submit the email address. An email can be triggered to make the prospect know that the product stock.
10. Renewal Reminder Email: If the sale is something consumed regularly like a printer cartridge or a subscription one then you can have an automated email to remind them to purchase or renew the same. Such timely reminders not only signifies as a good customer service but can help you in generating online sales.

These email programs can help in generating good online sales. I also invite your suggestions regarding such programs which have helped you in generating more online sales.

10 Tips To Increase Online Sales During This Recession

No wonder, why I am telling the same story which everyone know – the slow economy and recession. But, the numbers which I got from eMarketer surprised me.

Unlike in previous years, 2008 was sluggish for B2C sites.

The retail category which has hardly hit were computer software, digital entertainment and office supplies. While fitness equipment, books and magazines did well.

Seeing the above graph, one can interpret that the entertainment, luxury items and office supplies were vastly effected. Under luxury and entertainment we can term – music, videos, jewelry, watches, toys, PDAs and events tickets. So, the buyers have become too cautious in 2008 about what they are spending on. And they have spend the money were they really want to. They just did the purchases for their family needs – health, fitness, books, furniture, flowers and apparels.

What notes you need to take during this time of recession -

1. Concentrate more on organic search rankings. As it is a free tool to get the target audience and it is the best way when you have tight budgets.
2. Appropriately allocate the ad and marketing budget.
3. Have a proper messaging to your campaigns - you are here to fulfill your consumer’s basic needs and not to thrust your product on to them.
4. Target the niche audience as far as possible. This will help in more conversions and a better ROI.
5. Do measure your ROI for all your different campaigns separately and regularly. Invest more in the campaigns which is giving you better ROI. Have only ROI-driven strategies and use only quantifiable tactics. If you can’t prove it is working, then slash it.
6. It requires more effort and time to get a new customer. Better get more business from the existing customer. Concentrate more on customer marketing.
7. Try cross-selling other products/services to existing customers. This will save time and your customers may want to buy from you rather than other sellers.
8. If you do not have products/services to cross-sell, then partner with other sellers and scratch each other’s backs.
9. Increase your affiliate network. Motivate your top affiliates and help them with promotional materials and educate them to get more business during this situation. Better show them these 10-tips :)
10. Have coupon based or other promotional strategy. Re-look and constantly check, if it working and is it yielding more profits in a shorter span.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. You can get the prospects to your site, but the big question is can you make them buy? I also want to add that this is the best time to increase the market share for your business and beat the competitors before they beat you.

I would appreciate more suggestions from the various thought leaders in this e-Commerce market.

(Source for the above two graphs: eMarketer.com)