The Ecom logistics in India has gone through a big change in perspective over the past decade due to exponential growth, GST, corona-virus. From an ever expanding number of Ecom delivery pin codes to a tech-improved distribution centers, the area is currently seeing a big change in each part of its activity. E-Retailers continual search for actual outlets and conventional retailers fortify their online channels and rebuild their warehouse impression.
At the 31st Inflection Ecom Supply Chain & Logistics Web Conference & Awards, top SC & Logistics leaders brainstormed on the topic” Future of E-commerce Supply Chain & Logistics”. The discussion was started by the moderator Virendra Sharma, AVP & Head SCM at Jockey, where he shared his views on how e-commerce has significantly risen, and also led to the increase in the cost of logistics. This has also given shippers an opportunity to increase their profitability by coming with an innovative model, he added.
Sreenivas Rao Nandigam who is the Global Head SCM at Sun Pharma shared his view on how Covid has pushed people to adopt digitization. The service expectation is very high in the pharma industry and so is the value density of the product, he added. One truck of products carries products worth 2 crores at Sun Pharma, and the only other product which can have such high-value density is mobile phones. However, e-commerce has developed a lot across sectors, but not in all places. The reason being regulation, misuse, abuse.
Akarsh Bhardwaj, Vice President, Strategy at PharmEasy said, as an e-commerce player and a much larger organized setup, they have struggled a lot in terms of the supply chain. Setting up mobile or creating a consolidated demand was not the problem, it was the supply chain that created problems, said Akash. However, the supply chain was built completely from the scratch by PharmEasy and it didn’t rely upon any third party for supply chain needs. Pharma companies have now become very open in working e-commerce players. Sreenivas Rao had also shared his similar views on the increasing acceptability of the pharma industry towards the Ecom players.
The Head Strategic Partnership at Apollo 24*7, Ankit Jain spoke upon the changing dynamics of the pharma industry. The penetration of e-pharmacies is 2% and the actual size of the pharma industry in India is approximately 1.5 lakh crores. The covid-19 pandemic has allowed people to browse things digitally & significantly increase payments, transactions. The biggest challenge comes with being effective in comparing ourselves to the food delivery outlets where it guarantees the food to be delivered within 40 minutes. Having the right inventory model is also a challenge when it comes to being effective.
Mukhrit Mittal, Head Distribution &Logistics at Crocs India said 50% of their business is done for e-commerce sites. The demand has rapidly increased at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic and the company has to meet the shipping orders. E-commerce has played a role major in the retail and fashion industry. He also discussed automated deliveries and how it can speed up our deliveries. However, there are many retail companies that have adopted the concept of Artificial Intelligence.
Dr. Anil Chinnabhandar, Senior Vice President Supply Chain, Landmark, said India is fortunate to have zero cost of return on products. Whereas in other countries like Australia, the return charges range between $7-$12. The e-commerce industry has made the customer impatient, having said that, he added, that is spoiled the customers in terms of variety and choice, also, gone are the days when customers used to wait for the product to arrive in the market, and try-before-buy has also vanished.
The Chief Operating Officer of ProConnect, Dilip Sharma shared his insights on the supply chain innovations which can help the industry and can take it to the next level.
The web conference ended with India’s most prestigious awards ceremony where the Ecom SC & Logistics Industry leaders of India got awarded.