E-commerce logistics firm NimbusPost registered a growth of 20-25 per cent during the ongoing festive season, and now expects continuing growth in the next few months, Yash Jain, Founder and CEO of NimbusPost, told FinancialExpress.com. “The festive season has increased e-commerce sales and consequently the need for shipping services. We’ve registered a four-fold growth in FY22 and clocked a revenue of Rs 23 crore in FY21 and Rs 55 crore in FY22, and aim to make Rs 350 crore in FY23,” he added. In terms of categories driving growth, apparel and consumer electronics is contributing 80 per cent of the total e-commerce industry, further adding to the growth of logistic firms.
NimbusPost is a logistics aggregator helping MSMEs and large enterprises streamline their end-to-end logistics operations through domestics and cross-border shipping, warehousing and fulfillment solutions. The company works with 27 courier partners across the country, including Blue Dart, Delhivery, Xpressbees, DTDC, and Shadowfax.
Here are the excerpts from the interview:
Tell us about the services that NimbusPost offers across verticals in India as well as overseas. How are the services priced?
NimbusPost’s key services include domestic shipping, international shipping, and worldwide warehouse and fulfillment services. Domestic shipping service starts at Rs 21/500gm. International shipping service starts at Rs 215/50gm. Warehouse service starts at Rs 4 per unit* and warehouse & fulfillment service starts at Rs 15 per unit.
What kind of preparations did you go for in order to handle the festive sales surge? Were these temporary additions?
We hired 100+ employees across tech, operations, customer support, and other teams to ensure flawless order fulfillment during the festive season. As the festive season continues till Holi in India, the logistics market is expected to grow even further by the next year following which the new resources will be utilized efficiently.
What kind of surge or rise in demand did you register this festive season? What are your estimates for the rest of the year?
The festive season has increased e-commerce sales and consequently the need for shipping services. We experienced 20-25 per cent growth in business during this festive season and hope for continual growth in the next few months.
How are you adopting or integrating technology, omnichannel strategies to ramp up consumer engagement and connect?
Our fully-integrated shipping platform enables e-commerce merchants to automatically import orders from every platform in real-time and escape the hassle of manual order import, ensuring 100 per cent accuracy and faster order fulfillment. We have introduced an advanced AI-enabled fraud detection feature and automated order confirmation through WhatsApp, IVR, SMS, and email to facilitate a higher delivery success rate. E-commerce sellers can now confirm all orders in advance to promote delivery success rate. Further, our advanced NDR panel lets the merchants stay informed about the RTO-marked shipments in real-time and they can act immediately to save on RTO costs.
Tell us about your presence. How do you facilitate the services at NimbusPost?
Our registered office is located in Gurugram and we also have an office in Bhilai. Apart from these, we also have SPOC locations in Noida and Bengaluru. We have also stepped into the international landscape by launching our business in Indonesia and the UK. We have partnered with the respective country’s top courier partners to provide e-commerce merchants with multiple courier options in a single place. Post comparing shipping rates and reviews of different courier partners based on different metrics, businesses can pick the most cost-effective carrier partner for each shipment and ensure a better shipping experience.
Tell us about the rounds of funding at NimbusPost. Where will the majority of capital be invested from the recent round?
We’ve raised seed funding of $1.5 million and have a commitment of $10 million for the next round. We aim to invest the majority of the amount in strengthening our tech operations and introducing the latest tech-enabled features so we can ensure greater client satisfaction.
Tell us about your expansion plans.
We’ve recently entered the SEA (Indonesian) and UK logistics space and are looking forward to soon entering the US, Australian, MENA markets. In addition to that, we are aggressively expanding on the tech front and looking forward to launching a full-stack tech platform to fulfill 360-degree D2C requirements.
What are your thoughts on NLP (National Logistics Policy) and how will it impact the logistics industry in the country?
The game-changing National Logistics Policy is projected to promote the seamless movement of goods and improve the competitiveness of Indian goods in domestic and international markets. With India being an emerging hub for manufacturing and logistics, this policy will work as one of the lifelines of the Indian economy. The use of technology and innovation is a critical part of this policy. A Unified Logistics Interface Platform will be developed to help different government and private agencies, shippers, and service providers to exchange information in real time.
Plus, getting all the transport-related digital services into a single place will save the exporters from several cumbersome processes. A national logistics e-marketplace will work as a one-stop marketplace to simplify the documentation of imports/exports and drive transparency through the digitization of processes like customs, certification, compliance services, etc. It will also help in creating a data and analytics centre to drive transparency and continuous monitoring of key industrial metrics. With a strong emphasis on multi-modal transportation, digitization, and process re-engineering, the policy seems highly promising for the logistics sector and will only strengthen it in the coming years.