Imagine having to deliver a product to somebody at 11:00 p.m. at the airport or 7:30 a.m. at their house. A last mile logistics start-up firm – Delivree King— does exactly this, and also converts some portion of potential return packets of e-commerce firms into sales.

Delivree King's Co-Founder and CEO Neeraj Bisht said: “Our delivery boys are sellers as well. For instance, if a spectacle frame is being delivered, and the buyer wants to return due to problems in fitting or not liking the colour, our delivery boy could do small fitting changes there itself or coordinate with Lenskart for the customer’s order for another coloured frame.”

This way the firm has helped lower returns for Lenskart from five per cent to less than three per cent, a data point which is helping it garner more customers such as Amazon, Askmebazaar, Flipkart and Snapdeal.

As for the delivery boys, Delivree King says it pays them an incentive for each product “delivered”, a bit like sales incentive, apart from the usual standard salaries and fuel. So, while the average price for same-day delivery is ₹45 per product, Delivree King charges ₹60.

The company, which focuses on last mile pick-up and delivery in national capital region (NCR), delivers products within a maximum of 48 hours in the region, with same-day delivery options.

“It is through such steps that from March, when Lenskart had 5 per cent returns, we have reduced the returns to 2.9 per cent,” Bisht told BusinessLine . The company operates only in the same-day delivery and 48-day delivery space. It has a fulfilment centre in Delhi.

Additionally, the company says that it employs staff in two shifts: 8 a.m. -5 p.m. or 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. The delivery boys bring in their two-wheelers and pick up about 30 packets a day to drop. They are provided phones with an app that does the network route optimisation to save time.

Time spent

Average time spent by the firm’s delivery boys is 15-20 minutes at a customers place, while the industry standard is five-ten minutes, he said. “Companies spend about ₹700 for each customer acquisition, and we help them from losing that customer in case the customer wants the product changed.”

The company is growing fast. From four people and 20-25 orders a day, it now has 60 people and handle 1,000 orders a day.

By December, the firm is looking to do 5,000 orders day and add staff accordingly. Having raised the first round of funding, it is now looking to raise the next round for expansion, though Bisht said the company is in “no hurry”.

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