As traditional organisations like Vichare, Professional struggle to adapt to the new normal, upstarts like WeFast are moving in for the kill
The latest entrants on the courier scene have even been offering same-day delivery
Though several businesses that shut down in March owing to the COVID-19 lockdown have resumed over the past few days, traditional courier service providers are struggling to keep their business going. People have now turned to new-age app-based providers, who they say are reliable and efficient.
Traditional couriers like Vichare Express & Logistics Pvt Ltd, The Professional Couriers, Shree Maruti Courier Service Pvt Ltd, are plagued by shortage of staff as most of their employees returned to their hometown due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
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mid-day repeatedly called every available number of these providers and sent emails over the past week, with little to no response.
Phone rings forever
The biggest challenge for customers, who place bookings over the phone, is getting in touch with the courier companies. The number of The Professional Couriers' Navi Mumbai branch was repeatedly engaged and the mobile number listed for their western region was not answered. No one answered either on their central region landline numbers or extension numbers. Calls on DTDC India's Lokhandwala branch didn't go through, in fact the calls to the number has been barred, although the Internet showed the office as open.
People are now relying more on digital providers like FedEx, WeFast, etc. representation pic/istock
Vichare, too, was out of reach. Both its customer care numbers was consistently busy. There was no response at the company's Adarsh Nagar New Link Road branch as well, later mid-day learnt that it has been temporarily closed. No one responded to the emails either. However, when mid-day called Vichare's Oshiwara branch on Friday, the person on the other side said, "We are shut for the entire month of June. All branches and even the head office is shut."
'No delivery or pick up'
Maruti Courier's Jogeshwari branch on Thursday told mid-day that they "resumed our services just this Monday". The employee said the courier was being transported via road only. "You will have to personally drop off the package at our office. We do not have any men to pick up or drop off packages since most of them went back home."
Blue Dart Express is, however, providing pick up and drop off services and sending packages via air and road, both. A customer care executive said services were operational since beginning of June, but when mid-day called the numbers all of last week, there was no response.
New-age couriers reliable
While these courier service providers are struggling, new-age digital providers are busy catering to their customers.
Karishma Aggarwal
Karishma Aggarwal, 26, who recently launched The Cheer Chatter that retails stationery, has been using WeFast, Xpressbees and Delhivery since June 10 for work. "While most orders have been shelved because of the virus, the prepaid ones had to go out. I've been sending out parcels through ShipRocket, which is mainly a logistics company for e-commerce brands. They have tied up with 15 companies, including FedEx, Delhivery, Xpressbee, etc. Once you fill in the data, your delivery dates and prices are shown," she added.
She delivers within the city and to Lucknow and Chennai as well. "Nobody is allowed to enter the premise, so all the deliveries need to be picked up and dropped with the guards. The price varies from R65 to R200, depending on the urgency, weight of the package and the destination. Most of them reached before the scheduled date, expect the Lucknow parcel. There has been a long lag for that one."
Quick and safe
Versova-based filmmaker Amitesh Mukherjee, 29, used WeFast on May 10. "They were quite fast with the pickup and the delivery. I left the courier at the gate and the executive picked it up from there, and it was delivered to Bandra West with a couple of hours." He added: "For intra-city, I prefer providers like WeFast. They have apps and are instantly traceable. For inter-city, it makes more sense to avail DTDC services. They're far more trustworthy."
Saurav Agarwal, Goregaon resident
Saurav Agarwal, 26, who works with a Goregaon-based East Coast Hospitality that helps hotels and restaurants with all kinds of crockery, cutlery, glassware and kitchenware, has been using an app-based provider called Lalamove. "The app lets you deliver goods from point A to point B on a scooter. Another app is Porter, which is basically like an Ola or Uber that has only tempos meant for transferring goods." He added: "I have been using digital courier services for the past two years. The best part is I can track it on my phone. I've sent materials worth lakhs to Pune. Also, the pricing is comparatively cheaper than of traditional couriers." A Lalamove spokesperson told mid-day that for intra-state deliveries, "the customer will have to get a police pass online so that the authorities don't stop us…"
You can track it
Nidhi Kabra, 30, an Andheri resident who works in a financial consulting space, used WeFast to courier three laptops to South Mumbai last Thursday. "My package was delivered the same day, within a few hours. I could also track the delivery person's movement till my item was delivered." "I had looked at Blue Dart and DTDC and even ShipRocket (which has a tie-up with firms like Blue Dart, Vichare, DHL, etc) but none of them had the same-day delivery option. Wefast was the only provider with the option," she said.
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