Ecommerce, couriers and cash on delivery in India

An article in the New York Times (Sept 14, 2011) describes FlipKart – an ecommerce company in India that employs couriers for home delivery of orders with cash paid on delivery. Given the preference for cash transactions and payment ion delivery as well as an aversion to providing credit card information over the web, this last mile ownership by an ecommerce company seemed to be natural bundled extension.   Will such local firms continue to remain competitive if Amazon enters the Indian market ? Will Amazon have to evolve to include last mile delivery ? Is there a market for such services in the US – particularly for some market segments and products ?

About aviyer2010

Professor
This entry was posted in Ecommerce, Global Contexts, Service Operations, Supply Chain Issues and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Ecommerce, couriers and cash on delivery in India

  1. Amazon in India might not be as successful as it is in the US because the population density is so much greater. The courier system caters to high population density better than postal delivery because there are a higher number of likely routes that are feasible. Postal delivery must rely on hub-and-spoke, which benefits lower population density.
    Certainly there is a market for courier services in large cities in the US. I think there will be a first mover advantage to it as well. There will be chances to compete in that market for price, speed and variety.

  2. jason says:

    I wish to get back into the courier service but delivery throughout the world like I use to, who do I contact.

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