NE BUSINESS BUREAU
GURUGRAM, MAY 5
The e-commerce major Snapdeal on Tuesday announced that it has resumed the delivery of non-essential products in orange and green zones, along with the continuing deliveries of essential products. Wherever possible, the platform is prioritizing the delivery of household goods along with the on-going deliveries of essentials. On day one of Lockdown 3.0, the company receives 75% of orders from green & orange zones, a company release said.
The brand’s priority is to first deliver the products that were in transit when the lockdown was announced on March 25. Lakhs of these shipments are near consumer destinations and users have been frequently checking about these given their immediate need for such products.
Snapdeal is focused on the needs of buyers in smaller cities across India and more than 80% of its users hail from Tier 2 & 3 cities of India. The platform witnessed 40% of its orders coming from orange zone and 35% from the green zone on Monday.
It has started deliveries of non-essential products in various cities, including Gurugram, Panipat, Ambala, Panchkula & Amritsar in North India. In the western region, they have commenced in Goa, parts of Gujarat (Valsad, Jamnagar, Navsari) and select towns of Rajasthan, including Udaipur & Bikaner. Other cities where the platform have added delivery of non-essentials to existing operations include Visakhapatnam, Pondicherry, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Tuticorin.
“The overwhelming response by both buyers and sellers on Day 1 of e-commerce deliveries being allowed for non-essentials & essentials is a reflection of the important role e-commerce plays in fulfilling the needs of India. On Day one of Lockdown 3.0, we have delivered packets across India from Dehradun to Thiruvananthapuram and from Jamnagar to Jorhat. The day was also met with tremendous enthusiasm and readiness by our sellers who today shipped steel utensils from Salem, footwear from Amritsar, and apparel from Gurugram. All this bears testimony to the immense spirit of Bharat. At Snapdeal we feel privileged to be part of this nationwide endeavour to unlock our society and economy,” said Snapdeal spokesperson.
Thousands of orders for Jaipur continue to be on hold given the red status of the capital town. Deliveries to many parts of Maharashtra are currently disrupted but will commence over the next 2-3 days, he added.
The platform has also resumed the process of dispatching goods to hill cities of Shimla, Solan & Mandi, and deliveries in these towns are expected to be operational by mid this week. Given the largely green and orange status of cities in North-East India, Snapdeal has implemented a plan to service many of the needs through their sellers based in Guwahati. This will ensure faster deliveries in this region.
As Snapdeal was receiving & accepting orders of non- essential products with a promise to deliver them as soon as the lockdown is over, the company recorded a 24X jump in products in users’ shopping carts and wish lists since the start of the lockdown
