If you are in a metro then you get the item shipped next day. I've shopped with Flipkart, Myntra etc and this has always been the norm and when usually it becomes 2-3 days it's because your stuff is being sent from a warehouse in another metro. As I live in B'lore Myntra has almost always done 1-day shipping or 2 at most.
You want your items to be shipped to a small town? There's a problem. You want to ship it to your parents in a very small town or rural area? Forget it!
There are other services like eBay India, which has recently, started 3-4 day shipping. Earlier for them it was 7-8 minimum as standard. Deal sites like SnapDeal etc follow the same minimum 7-8 days golden rule.
Sites like IndiaPlaza are plague. You get your stuff in months or fortnights and then you congratulate yourself.
The thing is there are so many options in India, even on smaller scales, for online shopping and people actively use them where they best deals. In USA when I try to buy sth, to get it via a friend who is coming form USA, I have more or less one option - Amazon!
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)
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.
Flipkart does not _guarantee_ two day shipping, though. Or at least it didn't when I last used it. Amazon says they'll do it and that's worth more than some vague idea that it will probably make it.
If you are in a metro then you get the item shipped next day. I've shopped with Flipkart, Myntra etc and this has always been the norm and when usually it becomes 2-3 days it's because your stuff is being sent from a warehouse in another metro. As I live in B'lore Myntra has almost always done 1-day shipping or 2 at most.
You want your items to be shipped to a small town? There's a problem. You want to ship it to your parents in a very small town or rural area? Forget it!
There are other services like eBay India, which has recently, started 3-4 day shipping. Earlier for them it was 7-8 minimum as standard. Deal sites like SnapDeal etc follow the same minimum 7-8 days golden rule.
Sites like IndiaPlaza are plague. You get your stuff in months or fortnights and then you congratulate yourself.
The thing is there are so many options in India, even on smaller scales, for online shopping and people actively use them where they best deals. In USA when I try to buy sth, to get it via a friend who is coming form USA, I have more or less one option - Amazon!