Next-day delivery – or delivering a product within a day of ordering – is emerging as a winning strategy, with products listed under ‘NDD’ category accounting for 30 per cent of sales of online mart Askmebazaar.com.

Askmebazaar started the NDD service in full force in August this year, though it had been testing it since January, Marichi Mathur, Head-NDD Service, Askmebazaar, told Business Line . Now this segment is growing steadily, Mathur said.

33 cities covered

Of an average of $1 million of gross merchant value sales a day, 30 per cent accrue from the NDD service, which is now available in 33 cities, said Mathur. Each city has a separate homepage with 4,000-7,000 products listed under 15 categories that connects local sellers with local buyers.

This is Askmebazaar’s ‘hyperlocal initiative’, as the firm realised that people are more comfortable with warranty for products coming from a local outlet, and each city has its own product and brand preference.

“For instance, Mumbai has preference for pink phones, while filter coffee and related products are more in demand in South India,” Mathur said.

Expansion plans

Askmebazaar plans to roll out this service in 50 cities by the end of this month. It works out a pre-negotiated price with the wholesalers in each city. Also, the company only takes into account well-known national and regional brands.

Interestingly, for local deliveries, Askmebazaar rides on distribution partner(s) of the products in a particular city. Additionally, for payment, customers get all options, such as pre-payment, cash-on-delivery, payment through card machine at delivery point, and even equated monthly instalments (EMIs) through banks, he added.

comment COMMENT NOW