Snapdeal resumes pan-India deliveries; engages law tech platform Legistify to help in logistics planning

Snapdeal, India’s leading e-commerce platform, on Tuesday announced that it restored service to 100 percent of the pin codes that it was serving before the COVID-19 linked restrictions disrupted deliveries. Effective Tuesday morning, it has switched on all locations for delivery, excluding the containment zones, which continue to remain inaccessible for e-commerce deliveries as per guidelines issued by the Central and state governments, the company said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_4286413” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The swift resumption of the complete network has been possible on account of detailed planning exercises completed between Snapdeal and its third-party logistics providers over the course of the last week in anticipation of lockdown 4.0 relaxations. To help in logistics planning, Snapdeal has engaged Legistify, a law tech platform, that provides live trackers of latest regulations in red, orange, green and containment zones, including the trends and micro details from such areas. Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak In addition to being the first platform to restore pan-India operations, it is also the only platform that is offering the customers a Cash on Delivery (CoD) option. This option is available in across all 26000 pin codes - in green, orange and red zones. All major platforms in the country have restricted orders only to pre-paid orders. According to Snapdeal, many shoppers either do not have access to digital payment options or are not comfortable using them. In order to make it simple for these users to buy online, Snapdeal has continued the availability of CoD and a large part of non-metro users are using this option extensively. As a measure of precaution, buyers are encouraged to pay for their orders using digital payments anytime before and even during the delivery process. However, for those buyers who still prefer to pay cash, the deliveries are completed accordingly. Snapdeal has completed delivery of nearly 50 percent of the pre-lockdown orders placed by buyers in March, but which could not be delivered due to the sudden imposition of lockdown restrictions. All deliverable orders from this backlog are expected to be cleared by the end of this month. As per Snapdeal, it is working closely with its logistics partners to share updated demand assessments so that adequate availability of delivery agents can be planned for. It is also helping its partners plan delivery protocols that enhance safety for both the buyer and the delivery agent. A Snapdeal spokesperson said, “Customers all over the country have been waiting for long to receive their orders and place new orders. Thanks to advance planning and with the active support of our logistics partners, we are excited to swiftly resume deliveries all over the country for both essentials & non-essentials.”