1. Since its incorporation in 2018, Quickshift has been a driving force in providing End-to-end fulfillment solutions for eCommerce businesses. What was your inspiration or that light bulb moment when you realized the need to set up an online platform like Quickshift?
Ecommerce as a mainstream industry picked up only in 2015 and by 2018 there was a vibrant and positive buzz around brands venturing into this. But the service providers and solution masters, while being there, were solving the problem in silos.
Noticing this trend is where the idea of Quickshift was born, in a bid to not just be logistics service provider but become a synthesis of data driven decision making in the long run, as a partner to the brand. We were also very bullish on the entire penetration of ecommerce not just in the metro cities but in tier II, tier III cities as well.
2. According to the Quickshift website, you make use of new-age technology to ease the process of fulfillment of orders along with the management of warehouses and fleets.
How exactly is technology helping Quickshift in its journey to increased growth?
Quickshift Leap which is the app that binds entire tech system at Quickshift together, is making end-to-end supply chain management quick, efficient and accurate. Right from integration of clients’ websites, with their order management system, to regulating and monitoring inventory, teamed with last mile delivery, is being done at the click of a second both by us and the client. We are committed to not just run operations for an ecommerce or retail enterprise, but become strategic partners in their entire business. This is being done through the analysis and insights available to each brand about their product performance on a regular basis. Imagine getting to know beforehand about various elements which talk business and not just operations:
– which products and SKUs need continuous restocking and be termed as cash cows for the brand
– which are the most revenue generating products so cost of operations can be allocated judiciously
– which zones across the country has maximum buyers of your product so there’s focused target marketing
– COD remittances that are coming in for effective working capital management
3. Business model of Quickshift is very much connected to two major sectors, E-commerce, and Logistics. Both these sectors are growing rapidly in India due to changes in microeconomic conditions.
From a businessman’s point of view, how do you analyze the growth and challenges faced by the logistics and eCommerce sectors in the last few years?
Logistics has been a predominant industry in India for longest time possible. We have been at the strategic forefront on both global as well as national front with this industry. But with the onset of e-commerce and digital boom across the country, logistics as an industry has got a fresh lease of life in the last decade. This is only going to grow and accelerate, with the onset of larger initiatives like ONDC, Gati Shakti coming into play.
Earlier the challenges were aplenty with warehousing land red tapism, transportation taxes like octroi and VAT, lack of available manpower for last mile deliveries and most importantly the lack of technology to be able to link it all together.
Today’s challenges are going to be different but the growth story is so bright that there are multiple players coming in to work through these challenges. Quickshift is largely aimed at addressing daily issues for a larger picture.
4. A Few months ago, during an interview you stated that the speed of delivery is one of the most critical factors in the experience and expectation of a customer.
In this 21st century, when time is more important than anything else, how Quickshift has been able to put to use the idea of decentralization of delivery mechanism?
Yes speed is critical which is a function of time and pace, not just on the delivery front but right from the time an order is placed. We have been able to master it or at least get close to it through strategic placement of fulfilment centres across the country. Teamed with seamless integration of inventory management and last mile delivery, it is a matter of ensuring the same day or next day delivery experience is right on target.
While this is only what the world sees, we are aware of how in-time deliveries lead to customer delight, brand stickiness and business growth. As mentioned earlier, all our operational efficiency is directed towards business objectives of our clients. The beauty is in doing this day-in and day-out across different product types.
5. With a population of 135+ crore, purchasing power in the Indian market is tremendously huge. And the majority of this population is living outside cities where there are issues with delivery mechanisms and many other things.
Does Quickshift have any plans to increase its footprint in the country by venturing more into semi-urban and rural areas?
We are certainly rooting for the underdogs that drive the economy. We are very aware and conscious of the big markets that reside in tier 2,3,4 cities of India, and are ramping up to cater to them with as much convenience as possible. Connectivity is no longer an issue really with the country’s infrastructure going through a massive development drive. With national highways and corridors developed, business is only getting easy – at least at this front. The challenge is more in terms of resources like manpower, longer distances being covered, that need to be overcome. And we are working towards this by furthering our fulfilment centres across regions, along with training regional manpower and incorporating technology at all the right touchpoints.
6. Quickshift currently provides Same-Day Delivery service to eCommerce businesses in selected metro cities. What are the possibilities of providing the same service to cities and towns which aren’t metros?
Quickshift Rapid which is the Same Day Delivery vertical has launched yes but is not the most feasible option for e-commerce brands. The cost effectiveness of this service is lost with time being a major gamechanger but only for specific categories like essentials of grocery, personal care etc. Brands themselves have opted out of this, and instead focused on improving their presence on marketplaces which provide next day delivery assurance, and Quickshift is already partnered with them like Myntra, Flipkart, Amazon etc. This also applicable for smaller cities and towns where the distance is even shorter, and people are more than ok to get their favorite dress or shoe the next day.
The focus as we discussed earlier, is to move away from following market trends and get deeper into sharing insights that derive business performance metrics for brands.
7. Apart from delivery services, you also provide other tech driver solutions to eCommerce businesses like Order Management.
Your website claims that the E-commerce order management tool offered by Quickshift is 99.5 % accurate. What all factors assisted you in achieving this high rate of accuracy?
This is largely the team’s efforts that come into play, to get this kind of record numbers. Brands are very particular about how their delivery operations are executed, and our team is sensitive to that. Right from the warehouse manager and his team who process orders to our KAMs who ensure TAT metrics are being met on a daily basis and informing clients of the same, the numbers are made possible with a seamless, mechanised process.
8. Pandemic changed the way people view e-commerce and logistics. There was an increase in demand for eCommerce businesses and logistical support.
According to you, how has the coronavirus pandemic changed the Indian landscape for logistics businesses?
Logistics is certainly linked to the booming e-commerce sector but the pandemic took it to the next level with the omnichannel route coming into play. Not just the ‘Digital First’ or Digital Only’ phenomenon by brands served us well, but also the wide acceptance and hurried rush by established retail enterprises that made the game stronger. Brands which had been ruling the roost were starved during pandemic, and digital was their only but definitive move to survive. In this bid, the entire logistics industry has only benefited, where the marriage of an online store with the offline stores for inventory and order management is seamlessly handled through companies like us. With our QS Leap’s further extension being in this omnichannel space, we are excited to embrace challenges of a world where there’s a thin line between online and offline. The pandemic has most certainly opened up new business scenarios for this industry, which creating more opportunities for problem solvers and solution experts like us.
9. Apart from domestic deliveries, Quickshift also provides delivery service internationally to about 200 countries.
Will the latest geopolitical conditions in the Indo-Pacific and Europe have any adverse effect on logistics business?
We have launched this vertical but yet to begin operations. Can talk about it only at a later stage.
