Introduction:
Porter is India’s market leader in tech-enabled logistics. It was founded in 2014 to address inefficiencies in the last mile logistics sector with the idea of using technology, to transform the way goods are transported around cities. The goal is to positively impact the productivity of businesses while creating tremendous value for partner-drivers and customers.
Porter is addressing critical aspects of logistics such as loss of visibility, lack of control on routes and responsiveness, technology updates, and regulatory requirements, business pace changes, globalization, margin related pressures and competitive prices etc.
What is Home Furnishing:
Home furnishing essentially is personal property consisting of items such as furniture, appliances, rugs, cooking utensils, kitchen accessories, bathroom furnishings, window treatments, hammocks, bed linen, and art objects etc. A Redseer Consulting report states that the home furniture industry in India was worth $25 billion in 2016, with the online furniture industry alone making up $250 million. With steadily rising demand this industry is expected to surpass INR 40,000 crore from 2010 to 2020 according to Tech Sci Research.
Problems Faced in Home Furnishing Transportation:
Quick and secure transportation of home furniture is one of the vital requirements of this industry, in order to cater to evolving and often impatient customer demands. It requires special movers and techniques, augmented last mile and first mile delivery and white glove delivery experts. This movement requires careful lifting of heavy goods without causing unwarranted breakage or loss. Furniture also requires special assembly and packaging for damage protection. All Businesses from manufacturers, dealers, wholesalers, e-retailers to corporate stores, have their own set of particular and unique requirements.
In order to be a success transportation has to be seamless, optimized with a good system setup and highly trained resources handling the process. The market is ripe with companies claiming to be logistical miracles/ wonders facilitating all aspects of logistics but most of them fall short when it comes to delivering on these promises. Further on the obstacles inherently faced in moving furniture involve manual handling and packing, an absence of pallets, item management per container, and large and expensive container use, relative to freight weight.
Evolving Consumer Trends:
The consumer trends are rapidly shifting. India’s economy has grown almost 7% in the last three years and has in turn compelled people to spend more on themselves. Previously furniture was saved for generations and therefore heirloom quality items were purchased. HDFC Ltd, stated that the average age of homeowners has come down from mid-40s to people in their mid-30s in the last 15 years. Relatively younger consumers change homes, moving from one place to another, purchasing updated styles in furniture as a form of self-renewal. A shift has formed from purchasing things in stores to buying things online. Changing aesthetics, seasons and styles also play a crucial role.
The sale of furniture online has influenced consumer behavior to a large extent. The easy and quick availability of furniture has increased demand for small and single pieces of furniture, instead of previously preferred whole room pieces. The number of returns made, have also increased due to inability in assessing the color and quality of the pieces bought online. E-commerce has also influenced consumers into expecting quick, same day deliveries.
Solution:
Sales managers are of the opinion that e-retailers who have the ability to schedule and deliver products quickly increase retention and decrease chances of cancelling. Technology which is the biggest blessing of the 21st century is progressively being used in logistics to meet increasing consumer demands. Today technology facets like bar code tracking where the identity of the handlers is recorded and tracked via mobile phones, are being used. GPS advanced routing and warehouse MGMT systems are now becoming standard parts/aspects of tech enabled carriers. Automated bill process systems are also enabling accurate information formation.
The technological advances operating on data mining and Business Intelligence, Machine Learning etc have resulted in proper planning and prediction of growth patterns, cost savings along with minimizing waste management and inefficiencies in the logistics sector.By 2020, the online furniture industry alone is expected to be worth $700 million. This trend may result in the decline of Home Furnishing SMEs unless they catch up with this quickly growing logistics scale.
How Does Porter help revolutionize the Logistics sector?
Logistics platforms for mini-truck rentals such as Porter can give SMEs the extra edge needed today to compete with online competition. Porter can give home furnishing SMEs such as wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers etc the added advantage of a good turnaround time with maximum ETA of 25–30 minutes arrival and quick deliveries. The issue of price sensitivity and unreliability of local tempo service is also solved with structured and fixed pricing. Porter facilitates the entire process of pickup and delivery by bringing in accuracy and transparency with 24/7 tracking option for 100% security with smooth payment options such online payments, cash, wallet etc. Our driver partners are trained and screened and the vehicles have GPS with real time tracking for constant monitoring. Apart from this Porter also offers excellent customer service with 24/7 availability and cashback offers aplenty. Working with logistics aggregators can help SMEs achieve and sustain growth faster by bringing in a trust factor that comes with the support of having steadfast and reliable logistics.
Home furnishing transportation in metropolitan cities today is approximately 50,000 per day. Furniture orders comprise of roughly 20 percent of all logistic orders. Porter completes 13–20% of these orders. Our current growth rate is 3x and our projected growth rate for 2018–2019 is predicted to be 5x! Porter is ready to usher in the revolution in intra-city logistics, bringing us the future today. Try Porter it’s, truly ‘good for goods’.
