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Comment by prakster | Hacker News Reader

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prakster·

Hey Fakeer,

Do you have an idea (or know someone who does) as to

1. How is the Shipping Label (with tracking# if that's feasible) generated?

2. Which are the major couriers picking up the packages from the small ecommerce shop locations and delivering them?

3. Is the Indian Post Office a major player at all (in the US, the USPS is the largest ecommerce delivery company...bigger than UPS, FedEx and DHL combined)

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It isn't a major player at all. Indian Post Office is mostly used for sending documents and stuff and people prefer it because it's cheaper and available in most destinations ranging from metro cities to small villages. Most ecommerce players use private logistics companies like BlueDart, DTDC, etc. They use Indian Postal Service only for rural orders where BlueDart and the like don't service.

My dad happens to lead the e-commerce division at a logistics company and from what I've heard, Indian Post Office is not a major player at all. A large of e-commerce companies/startups are using Bluedart (now merged with DHL) as their primary logistics provider and tracking is provided as a service to the customers. Flipkart, I believe, runs their own logistics service.

Flipkart, Myntra etc run their own logistics unit Bangalore only and maybe other metros too, but when it's about tier 2 cities and blow the traditional courier firms handled it.

>>Is the Indian Post Office a major player at all

I don't think Indian Post Office is good option for courier stuff like a mobile phone, or a book.

But they are pretty good if you want to send a money order, letter or a registered post.

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