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Send Fast: Redefining Last Mile Logistics

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Kiran Kumar Reddy, Co-Founder & CEO

Kiran Kumar Reddy

Co-Founder & CEO

Let's imagine a situation! There's a meeting at 2 pm and you order your food at 12.45 pm hoping that it would arrive within the next half an hour. For some reason, your anticipation goes wrong and the food arrives at 1.45 naturally making you cranky. In such an instance, the first thing you do is go out and tweet about the bad experience and also the bad food. If the food is good, it is still a trouble for the brand because despite planning the delivery with such acute precision, it turns out to be a spoiler. Now, you flip the situation and delve deep to understand the reason for the delay and you realize that the delivery person does not take any special efforts to get your package delivered late. In fact, his deliverable is to deliver on time and there are repercussions for delays. The challenge when it comes to meeting delivery timelines is the last mile delivery that brands encounter. LastMile Delivery has become quite main stream yet, the challenges still exist. Seamless last mile delivery experience is still easier said than done and there are some serious challenges that brands encounter time and again. While there are a lot of technology advancements in the logistics space, last mile challenges seem to evolve at a pace which is a tad bit faster compared to the way solutions evolve.

The efficiency of the last mile and the experience of the customer at this point of time go a long way in determining the common perception of the business, which flutters about the market in the form of reviews, gossip and even competition. For retailers, ensuring a smooth and satisfactory lastmile delivery is now more significant than ever. While this is good news for retailers' top line, today's delivery models are not proving to be profitable, with retailers absorbing a part of the cost of lastmile delivery. No wonder the importance of the last mile in ensuring success is undeniable; the challenges in making it optimally efficient are many. As more consumers are shifting to online ordering and expect frequent deliveries, meeting demand and service level expectations are impairing the retailers' profitability. Grappling with it through various strategies, however, is ensuring newer and better solutions. Ingenious innovation and rapidly evolving technology are paving the way for companies to optimize their supply chains. The solution is to build a lastmile exchange platform that drives delivery decisions, and, crucially, allows retailers and transportation providers to collectively shape delivery demand and adjust continually to the inherent variability of the last mile. Such an exchange could deliver a win for consumers, retailers, and transportation providers.

Understanding the essence of this is Hyderabad-based SendFast, an innovative technology platform that enables partners in delivering lastmile logistics solutions. The company provides unmatched reach in Tier II and Tier III cities with its extensive network and hassle-free deliveries with great end user experience. A tech platform which strives to provide the last mile on demand logistic support to the plethora of on demand B2B and B2C services, SendFast understands the growing importance to last-mile delivery supplemented by the growth in the e-commerce. Hence, it plans to tap the potential of this market by working simultaneously in both e-commerce and hyperlocal domains. Integrating and working in both domains helps it optimize its asset utilization. "We want to revolutionize the world of lastmile logistics with our extensive network and facilitate lastmile logistics for all players, be it, small merchants or large e-commerce players," speaks Kiran Kumar Reddy, Founder& CEO.

The Genesis
There's no doubt that successful businesses start with brilliant ideas. After all, in today's fiercely competitive environment, innovation is the ammunition entrepreneurs need to stand out in the crowd. SendFast is no exception. The brainchild of Kiran Kumar Reddy and Sashank Vinta, SendFast was conceptualized to address the last mile delivery challenges that businesses encounter. Post their degrees from IIT Kharagpur, Sashank and Kiran thought of looking for the best delivery options. They researched the marked, brainstormed and finally zeroed in upon creating a B2B delivery company in Hyderabad. "When we stepped into the picture, we perceived the gaps within the delivery network. Several issues were going on and it was one of the most unorganized systems. We thought of giving it a try and bring in solutions that help companies achieve logistical excellence through a winning combination of perfect customer experiences and streamlined delivery operations. The platform also would help keep a continuous focus on their customers through a fully controlled frictionless delivery,"Kiran informs.

"We started in 2015 and within a couple of weeks; we reached almost 500 per day orders. Our next step was to get in touch with Flipkart for their last-mile delivery. We
assisted them and made it to success. Now we are a major vendor for Flipkart Pan India. We currently deliver across like 30+ last mile solutions per day,"adds Sashank.

While the major pain points in the last mile segment are related to Delivery Executives, SendFast makes sure to hire great candidates and keep them happy, thus carving a niche as a reliable and a sustainable brand in the B2B space. It focuses on lowering the attrition rates, optimizing their efficacy, managing day on day issues, amongst others. Besides emphasizing on operational and execution capabilities, it also values the importance of technology and data."We have to build a robust engine, which optimizes our operational capabilities(route optimization, locating tagging, schedule pickups) and can scale rapidly in any geography across the globe,"he says.

Sendfast delivers for all the major companies in India such as Amazon, Big Basket, and Flipkart


Crossing Oceans
Entrepreneurship comes with a host of challenges. Rewarding challenges, but harsh nonetheless. It takes a great deal to establish a brand, adjust to match or exceed the competition and keep the business profitable. Agility is imperative in today's dynamic competitive environment, a way for them to remain relevant and viable in the coming years by establishing a clear competitive advantage. Team SendFast realizes this. Sashank asserts, "I think that dedication and discipline towards one's duty is the biggest secret behind success. Dedication will not let your mind get deviated from its focus or lose hope. Dedicatedly follow your dream, stick to the agenda and sincerely work for it and success will be yours."


The dexterous team at SendFast leaves no stone unturned to provide businesses with the most efficient way to manage their logistical processes in realtime and with full visibility. Their solution optimizes the efficiency of their entire delivery ecosystem, provide fulfilment centres, virtual hubs, smart mobile apps and tracking to ensure hassle free delivery and happy customers for business, be it e-commerce, restaurants or retail. Also, the company is for scheduled delivery and handling returns. The team is dedicated to a customer focused culture that helps them deliver reliable and personalized services.

The Developments
The major challenge that exists in the domain is the connectivity issues. There is no proper platform to address in the entire country. If taken into account, there are only 2 to 3 e-commerce companies that have proper facilities concerning logistics. And there are very few companies that provide sincere and up to date last mile services. Kiran explicates, "As the last mile and logistics company, we have not only realized these glitches but have worked upon it too. We have been developing technologies considering the current needs of the ecosystem. We are crafting solutions for onground challengers. Nearly, we are addressing the needs of the infrastructures also. Currently, we have our presence in 400 locations."

SendFast, initially commenced its operations as a food delivery company. Eventually, the problems related to logistics grabbed their attention and the founders then shifted their focus to crafting personalized delightful delivery experiences. "Logistics should be a powerful platform that will support all sorts of business whether big or brick and mortar. But our focus primarily is to make logistics a platform that assists small and medium businesses and introducing them to new levels and opportunities,"Kiran mentions.

In 2015, many well funded companies also placed their cornerstone, so the competition was high. But only a few sustained the tough break. As a company that is raised with selffunds and angel funds, SendFast has not only survived the tough break but emerged as a successful one, over the years. It is currently working with 1300 executives daily present across 11 states.

At present, the company is delivering for all the major companies in India such as Amazon, Big Basket, Flipkart. Collaborations with such major companies only happen when the best of services are catered. It has been successful in creating this standard in the ecosystem that could entice the attention of the big names in the industry," states Kiran. The team had a target of completing 1000 deliveries in a day. But at present, they are working with 1000+ executives and have reached 1 lakh deliveries. "We are currently aspiring to be a technology knot between e-commerce companies and logistics. We aim to be the platform that brings logistic close to e-commerce and vice versa. The whole concept of last mile deliveries and logistics should be troublefree and relaxed and also a plug and play for everyone," concludes Kiran.

Kiran Kumar Reddy, Co-Founder & CEO
Before my graduation, i went on a trip to almost 13 states. I observed and began contemplating which business has the plausibility to thrive in the near future. Out of all, the transport aggregator sector enticed me a lot. This sector has numerous drawbacks as well as opportunities which compelled me to dig in more and i decided to take an extra initiative to have a better perspective of the domain. That is when i decided to pursue a masters in transportation and logistics."

Sashank Vinta, Co-Founder
"Last mile delivery is a challenging experience. Everyday there is some new issue. Technical and management issues or rather internal issues will always persist which we need to tackle on a daily basis. But what bother us are the matters relating to the delivery executives. Our ground operation is actually run by them, so it is our foremost duty to ensure their genuineness, allegiance, and probity. It is also our duty to pay appropriate prudence to their safety and security from the natural and man-made menaces. Managing all this was a challenging experience for us."

Faster Delivery Services
•Easy To Use: simple & modern API to integrate with any e-commerce store or use our merchant plugin. Integrates in hours, not days
•Schedule Delivery: Avoid losses due to cancellations as end customers can schedule a change of delivery slot
•Real Time Tracking:
End customers can track the delivery status as well, improving end user experience
Route Optimization:
The route optimization algorithm ensures that we are able to deliver more in less time