The E-commerce and logistics industry in India loses nearly INR 75,000 crore annually due to an unidentified addressing system. Navigating through the last-mile delivery with the mapping options available in the market is a bit difficult looking at the complex roads and bylanes of Indian cities. FinancialExpress.com spoke to Gaurav Kalsiwal, CTO, Pataa Navigations, a start-up solving this issue. He explained the role of AI, 5G technology and API’s can help reduce the huge last-mile cost incurred by logistics and e-commerce platforms.
What role does AI play in mapping technology?
With the advent of smart phones and their growing usage, maps have found their way into users’ palms. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are getting embedded into maps. So, with Pataa also we’re implementing Augmented Reality, wherein any visitor approaching a Pataa code can be seen with the help of a button on the map. You can see the live view and the virtual plate on a house. This will become a very good use case in finding the last mile address.
Apart from this, Block chain technology can be implemented for address verification. Down the line, through Machine learning algorithms, we’ll be mapping house numbers in a specific area. Through AI we’ll be able to identify house numbers in a particular vicinity.
Also Read | Indore to become the country’s first ‘Smart City’ with ‘Smart Addresses’
How do you think that the 5G rollout in India will help the navigation and mapping industry?
The bandwidth and internet will be incredibly efficient with 5G, convenient to use, and seamless. Additionally, the development of 5G will have a significant impact on the transportation and mobility industries. The introduction of 5G technology will not only help in paving the path for ‘digital India’; it will also have numerous positive economic and social effects. However, we’re attempting to offer offline navigation as well, allowing the user to download maps and operate the app when offline. The performance of maps will increase significantly.
As you’re related to navigation services, do you think features like Street View pose security risks?
As far as our app is concerned, Street View doesn’t pose a risk. It depends on whom you’re sharing your address with. The user will have complete control of his or her address. We have privacy settings enabled and the user will be empowered whether he wishes to show his address or not. So, if the user doesn’t want to show his live view, he can hide it through the application.
What are some innovative use cases of Pataa.? How can Pataa help people from the bottom of the pyramid?
Our tagline ‘Address made simple’, exemplifies the major use case of Pataa, that is creating and sharing addresses easily. Apart from this we have lots of other features in the Pataa app. A very interesting feature coming into the app in near future is the video doorbell. It’s a very helpful feature where a visitor can scan your QR code and you’ll get a ring on your phone. It will be a one-way video and a two-way audio call. You can see the visitor and can even communicate over the app itself. It will solve the major issue of security.
Extensions, is another such feature where one Pataa code can be shared among family members or colleagues.
An amazing Pataa use case is the Square code, that means instant location sharing. A Square Code is a 10-digit, unique alphanumeric code. Pataa has divided the Earth into 57 trillion blocks of 3*3 square metres and each block has been assigned a unique code. Any random location can be shared easily through Pataa even without the internet.
All these features benefit people from the bottom of the pyramid like delivery personnel who can reach a precise address thus saving on precious time and fuel. If you look at the bigger picture, it means they have more peace of mind and time to spend with their families. It also enhances productivity and hence job satisfaction in the long run.
How do you see the navigating and mapping industry innovating in the next five years?
The navigating and mapping industry is a vast one with good use cases and finding an address is not a very big challenge but getting to the last mile is a major one. Pataa is already there in that space as a solution for the last mile.
We have been successful in connecting the dots between the first, mid and last mile. The first one being E-commerce, mid-mile is Logistics and the last mile is where the consumer resides. We’re doing this seamlessly.
AR and VR usage will increase in future.
Location intelligence services will also be on the rise.
Drones, the future of delivery are one of the main innovations to take further shape in future. They’ll be faster than hyper local deliveries.
First mile to last mile end to end solutions are the future of the mapping and navigating industry and Pataa is all set to deliver in this space.
How address autofill API is contributing to the e-commerce and logistic industry?
Geo-tagged addresses can improve an e-commerce company’s profitability by reducing the last mile cost by 40% which is roughly around 650 crores according to data.
Pataa’s Address API is a product for the B2B market to leverage the sales of their products and prevent customer churn. Filling in long and complex address lines may result in a customer abandoning his cart before making the payment. The consignee’s geotagged location helps to identify serviceable and non-serviceable locations. Optimized delivery routes show a marked improvement in the first attempt delivery percentage.
This product not only makes deliveries time effective, it also eliminates the cost of SMS and OTP. Delivering to verified addresses decreases the chances of COD reductions. Bearing losses can be extremely frustrating due to more than one attempt in delivering to non-geo tagged addresses. Complex sorting at logistics and delivery hubs is another hurdle, reason being inaccurate addresses.
The Pataa Address API makes enterprises stand out in a crowded market place with a unique identity. Savings from reduced costs of delivery to digital address codes can help companies thrive better.