Start-up firm QikPod has raised $9 million to launch what it hopes will become a nationwide network of parcel collection lockers across India to target the country’s booming e-commerce market.
Launched by entrepreneur Ravi Gururaj, the company’s investors include local e-commerce giant Flipkart, logistics firm Delhivery and manufacturer Foxconn, which will build the lockers.
Aiming to overcome India’s notoriously poor logistics infrastructure and final-mile delivery challenges, the company plans to launch pilot schemes in January 2016.
Gururaj told TechCrunch that he aims to quickly roll out some 50,000 lockers in India’s ten largest cities within the next 18 months. He claims that one third or even half of all parcels shipped to major Indian cities could go through the network in future.
E-commerce firms would deliver goods in large batches to the lockers, ready for collection by consumers. Flipkart alone has some eight million packages for delivery every month, according to Indian media.
Explaining the business model, the company said that “QikPod lockers will allow couriers to deliver at any time and consumers to pick-up at a time of their convenience.
“In addition to offering customer convenience, QikPod will also offer increased security & safety in the courier/delivery process and substantial cost savings overall. The reduction in delivery communications, failed delivery attempts and consolidation of deliveries and routes will have a strong, positive reduction in carbon footprint of courier companies as well.
“When fully built out the QikPod network will offer tens of thousands of smart, automated electronic parcel lockers dedicated to the delivery and pick-up of packages by consumers.”
