Etailers like Amazon, TaxiForSure are designing technology suited for delivery boys

BENGALURU: While startups are scrambling to create mobile apps for the ever-discerning customer, they are also designing technology suited for the service providers onthe-go, who make up the backbone of their fulfillment process.
Take for example ecommerce giant Amazon, which provides each of its 7,000 delivery boys a tablet equipped with automated realtime tools for routing, payment and customer communication.

“We have invested in technology to ensure our associates are able to make deliveries easier, faster and on time. As a result, they are able to secure all the information they need on their device, free from pen and paper,” said an Amazon India spokesperson.

Cab aggregator TaxiForSure, on the other hand, makes the effort to use regional languages in operations ranging from training programmes to the driver-facing app.

“Communication ranging from customers’ pick-up location, route map and billing details are done in languages that drivers are most comfortable with,” said CEO Arvind Singhal.

“This has helped drivers be engaged with the brand better, and has helped deliver the brand promise to the customer better.”

Meanwhile, third-party logistics provider Delhivery, which raised $85 million from Tiger Global recently, is piloting systems-based routing in the NCR region to improve delivery efficiency by 30-40%. “We are trying to assess how systems-based routing matches manual routing, and the education that delivery boys need,” said cofounder and CTO Kapil Bharati.

The company is also in the first phase of testing industry-grade devices, which it hopes to distribute to each of its over 10,000 delivery executives.

Given the dearth of enterprise providers in this widening market gap, companies have been creating their own specialised solutions inhouse, creating user interfaces that are easy to understand using colours and symbols, eradicating barriers of language and content.

But Sahil Kini, vice president of Bengaluru-based venture firm Aspada Investment Advisors, wonders why companies are going to great lengths to simplify content for workers on the ground.

“Why should the bars of intuition be different between blue collar workers and us?” he asks. “I don’t believe that dumbing it down is the answer.” Bharati of Delhivery agrees, saying, “Most of the guys are kind of tech-savvy.”

“What does get complicated is when there’s more instructions and local information in hybrid use cases like local delivery to the consumer — I don’t think those models have been developed yet,” said Karthik Reddy, co-founder and managing partner at Blume Ventures.

In this scenario, a dire need is in providing accurate information in regional languages that service providers are comfortable communicating in — a time and labour-intensive process that many startups cannot afford. Bengalurubased Reverie has emerged to solve just this critical problem by providing tools and technology for businesses to create its own content quickly in a local language.

“Until there’s a more sensible marketplace both for consumers and suppliers, there’s going to be a lot of errors and understandings if it’s not catered to localisation. We have those debates when we look at whether the entrepreneurs of our early-stage companies are thinking about this problem,” said Reddy of Blume.