E-commerce companies are increasingly preferring India Post over private couriers for deliveries to remote areas, as the postal service can guarantee delivery to any pin code. Revenue for India Post's Mumbai region grew 110% over the previous year for e-commerce deliveries. Private couriers cannot ensure deliveries to remote areas as comprehensively due to limited infrastructure. India Post's widespread rural network gives it an edge over competitors for enabling e-commerce growth across India. E-tailers value India Post's ability to electronically share delivery information.

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E-tailers prefer Speed Post to deliver to remote areas
E-commerce companies seem to increasingly prefer India Post for delivery, with the government
mass mailer witnessing a 110% growth in booking of consignments in Mumbai in 2015-16
compared to the previous financial year.Revenue has jumped from Rs 13.64 crore to Rs 22.53
crore in the same period.
“Sending a parcel through the post guarantees delivery irrespective of the pin code of the buyer.
Private couriers cannot give this assurance as it's not feasible for them to operate in remote
areas,“ said E V Rao, director, postal services, Mumbai region.
eTailing India Thought Corner
Speed Post sets in as potent delivery partner for ecommerce
Certainly, it is India Post’s rural depth that gives it an edge over its competitors. Ashish
Chitravanshi, Vice President of operations at Snapdeal says, “India Post has an unmatched
network that is critical for the growth of e-commerce in India”. Echoing similar sentiment,
Amazon India’s Director of transportation Samuel Thomas says “We have integrated Amazon

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and Postal systems to electronically enable information sharing”. India Post’s Karnataka circle
has a dedicated processing zone for Amazon to handle last-mile deliveries.
The sales are already happening at the other way round for e-tailers as more orders are coming
from non-urban areas across the country. Speed post is expecting business to increase by nearly
Rs.2.5 crore a year once Flipkart and Naaptol start providing products for delivery. One
important factor Snapdeal’s Ashish points out is that high cost involved in setting up delivery
infrastructure in remote areas and km/delivery has resulted in the further dependence upon postal
service like Speed Post for speedy deliveries.
The courier companies are competing with each other to solve unknown locations delivery
problems with technologies ranging from mobile apps to new global maps that create a unique
address for every spot on the country. But for now, the experience and familiarity that speed post
brings in among the people definitely works better for eCommerce players than anyone else out
there.