Shadowfax-final

Building a strong local network of 'mom & pop' stores, channelising their community knowledge and facilitating last mile delivery for a large-scale FMCG division via seamless online order process.

Services used:

Now express 45

Now Slot Delivery

Impact

Superior customer service at pocket-friendly prices

Cost optimisation

Real-time inventory updates

Zero worries in managing & maintaining a delivery fleet

Tech-enabled end-to-end online processing and last-mile delivery

Gradual reduction in cost/order with progress of the project

Challenges

No direct deals with retail stores.

Increased number of touchpoints for a complete online order fulfillment system.

Delivery fleet - Maintaining and managing a group of deliveryexecutives for eachretail outlet and locality
Inventory - Keep track of stock and update inventory in real time
Promoters - They need to push retailers to accept orders
Tech support

Demand/supply management with day time & weekend spike orders & maintaining serviceability metrics

Approach

Shadowfax devised a 2 pronged approach to create an omnichannel last miledelivery

Model around local kiranas

Approach 1

Smooth integration of delivery service with local kirana stores through partnership with Shiprocket (automated shipping software).

Approach 2

Build cogent solutions that cater to these cases:

- Online ordering possible when stock is available in outlet.

- Delivery partner availability in the nearby area.

- Delivery partner's readiness to manage two kind of deliveries - Slotted delivery where TAT may range from 2-6 hours

- Express deliveries where TAT is within 1 hour.

The details

The first approach was worked out with seamless tech integrations where online orders were received by a store based on stock availability and a customer could only place an order from that particular store. This created a win-win situation for the retailer & the customer. The retailer didn't have to reject an order based on unavailability and customer would always be assured of product being available.

To make the model feasible, Shadowfax did the following:

The second approach, regarding the management of a dedicated delivery fleet, was tackled through efficient utilisation of delivery partners as a mobile asset between a certain number of stores within a locality. How did Shadowfax make this mobility possible?
Created clusters based on order volumes in different localities and assigned a set number of delivery partners to these clusters based on order volumes
Identified periods of order spikes and made sure an adequate number of delivery partners are available within their clusters to take up the deliveries
Cross-utilised delivery partner network from other delivery verticles to cater to demand spikes. Devised clear incentive structure to encourage higher delivery partner participation & availability across the demand surges