This could really be a big game changer and IR must think and act fast. Some of the supporting facts are:
(1) The sales volumes of Online shopping companies is increasing very rapidly since a few years.
(2) With increasing confidence of customers in online shopping, Today sale large equipments like acs, coolers, refrigerators, washing machines etc is also picking up fast.
(3) Today...
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most of online goods sold move by air due to concessional agreement with major freight carriers. Still the logistics cost is very high. Cost of logistics and the reach is the most important factor for the online companies to increase their volumes. If IR make proper agreements with these ecommerce players, it can provide much cheaper transportation and much wider/deeper reach to them, due to much huge IR network (over 7000 stations in India) as opposed to small network of commercially operated airports (only about 75 in India).
(4) Currently Online shopping is less than 2% of total shopping done by Indians and is expanding very fast where as in developed countries it go as high as 30%. So there is a huge scope for the ecommerce companies to grow. E-com companies are looking for cheaper and reliable transport logistics and would like to join hands with more economical IR. Equal benefits/motivation is there for IR also, which is trying hard to bring unconventional (non bulk) and high value freight in its basket in an effort to increase its market share.
(5) Providing seamless wifi connectivity free of cost is very much possible for IR, as ecom companies shall be more than willing to get involved in it, as the train passengers shall love to utilise their journey time to visit online ecommerce sites and do shopping which was otherwise wasted. Time shall be gainfully passed, and the time, efforts, money spent in going to shops for purchasing shall be saved.
(6) IR already have developed stations and allotting space to e-com operators for storage of goods shall not be a problem. New building/ Extra floor may be constructed over the station buildings for the purpose, if required.
(7) IR+Ecom operators is a wonderful combination. IR can give Ecom operators a huge number of potent customers and at the same time do the job of transportation of sold goods. Ecom companies can add value to service provided by IR to its travellers and give additional revenue ti IR without incurring any additional cost and also give the non-conventional traffic like consumer goods etc, which IR is vying to bring under its ambit.