How Eshopbox is driving growth for ecommerce brands in India

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, India has witnessed a massive surge in the demand for ecommerce. As per IBEF, the market opportunities in the nation is expected to touch $200 billion by 2026. This growing interest of the consumers in online shopping has invited many new direct-to-consumer (D2C) companies and digital sellers to establish their presence in the online retail space.

Platforms like Shopify & WooCommerce have made sure that setting up an ecommerce website is fast & easy, now more than ever before. Similarly, social media channels like Instagram & Facebook have become the go-to choices for driving visitors to a website.

However, turning website visitors into loyal customers still remain a challenge.

While the ecommerce industry continues to evolve, the expectations of the consumers in regards to service & price have also evolved. The consumers want to know when their products will arrive even before ordering them. They want same or next day deliveries with accurate online tracking and are even ready to pay extra for it. Even more, they want to associate with brands that offer a delightful post-purchase experience with easy returns and instant refunds.

"Traditional logistics and supply chain will not be sufficient to keep up with the growing expectations of modern commerce. The challenge is to successfully build a robust fulfilment network with access to inventory data, the whereabouts of products, consumers and also accurate order information. On top of it, the capability to interpret and act upon this information in real-time is also essential. Moreover, there is a need for a solution that is flexible, transparent, data-driven and puts customer demand first" says Mayur Karwa, Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer, Eshopbox.

Eshopbox, an ecommerce logistics platform is on a mission to accelerate sales by providing fast and affordable fulfilment to businesses. By partnering with traditional warehouses and introducing cutting-edge technology, Eshopbox has transformed these warehouses into state-of-the-art fulfilment centres (FC), where each day, machines, technology and humans orchestrate an unmatched symphony. The Eshopbox proprietary algorithm uses a combination of ground, air, and regional carriers to offer on-time delivery rates that are cost-effective. This entire ecosystem of e-commerce operations gets deeply integrated with the ecommerce websites of their clients, enabling them to offer a seamless purchase & post-purchase experience to the customers.

The process starts with sellers distributing their inventory to Eshopbox locations. Eshopbox recommends inventory distribution by forecasting demand. Every unit received at Eshopbox FC undergo a quality check to ensure the customers, irrespective of where they are shopping from, are served only the highest quality of products. Once the items are stocked, the inventory gets updated on the brand's own website as well as Amazon & Flipkart stores so that the consumers can choose the most convenient option to buy from.

"The Eshopbox forecasting engine analyzes millions of products listed across multiple ecommerce websites and suggest which of Eshopbox fulfilment centres are best to stock products so that inventories are closer to shoppers. Thereafter, when a customer places an order, the actual rundown begins", adds Mayur.

When a customer makes a purchase, Eshopbox routes the order to an optimal fulfilment centre. Thereafter, the warehouse management technology quickly works out where the item is located in the fulfilment centre. The IoT-driven hand-held devices direct the pickers to the appropriate shelves. Once the item is identified and procured, it is placed in a tote which then automatically reaches the packing station through a series of conveyors. The order is packed in transit-safe packaging using the most suitable materials. This ensures that when the customer receives the order, it will be as pristine as it was when it left the warehouse.

By analyzing gigabytes of data of carrier providers on a daily basis using machine learning algorithms, Eshopbox chooses the right courier partners, thus living up to the promise of making on-time deliveries. Additionally, when the shipment is travelling through the courier network, Eshopbox tracks it at every step and predicts if there is a possibility for a delay in the delivery. In case of any issue concerning the delivery is identified, the Eshopbox tracking system proactively communicates the scenario to the customers and corrective actions are taken in real-time. Eshopbox's association with MPL Sports (the official kit sponsor of the Indian cricket team) demonstrates how Eshopbox's platform has simplified the ecommerce operations for the brand. Working with Eshopbox allows the MPL Sports team to spend more time on marketing and scaling, as fulfilment is tackled behind the scenes.

Zero Risque saw a spike in demand for high-quality masks during the nationwide COVID pandemic lockdown. Their association with Eshopbox, helped them achieve continual order fulfilment, thus delighting their customers every day. This led to a massive increase in their returning customer base.

Royal Enfield is one of many enterprises working with Eshopbox having realized that traditional logistics may not be enough to meet the needs of modern commerce.

“We at Royal Enfield have been rapidly investing in developing products for varied riding needs, different terrains and weather conditions whilst ensuring that they meet global safety norms. Our intent is to make products accessible not only in terms of price but also availability. Through our partnership with Eshopbox, we are heading in the right direction of expanding our reach across India. Eshopbox offered us a quick and scalable transformation for making our products available across all e-commerce portals which has been a delight for our customers.” says Puneet Sood, National Business Head - North and West India & Global Head - Apparel Business at Royal Enfield.

Eshopbox serves companies across fashion, beauty, health, electronics, food, home furnishing, kitchenware and FMCG categories. They have fulfilled millions of orders for businesses of various sizes including conglomerates like Pidilite, Raymond, renowned brands like Canon, Blackberry, Monte Carlo and even high growth startups like Glance, Oziva and Plix.

The company was founded by brothers Mayur Karwa and Ankush Karwa and is bootstrapped so far. The company has grown by 250% in the last year. Currently, Eshopbox has five fulfilment centres in 4 major cities - Gurugram, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata, covering 54% of the nationwide demand within 2 days. They plan to expand to 60 more cities while aiming to achieve single day deliveries in the near future.

Moving forward with an intent to cater to the ever-growing needs of the online consumer, Eshopbox is here to solidify its presence and uplift the ecommerce industry with its unique technology-enabled fulfilment solutions.

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