Why traditional logistics companies may fail in the long run?

Based on recent experiences with some of the logistics company, I feel senior players in this field such as BlueDart and FedEx are slowly losing the game to the kinds of e-Kart (from Flipkart), Runnr etc.,

Story:

I’m staying in Bangalore, famously called as “Silicon Valley of India”. I was expecting an important parcel to be delivered by BlueDart. I got an e-mail with official tracking ID. And, that was the first and last mail I got from them regarding that delivery. No more SMS’es and calls from their side.

I was tracking that order daily and happy that it was updated everyday. But, their site was very poor and slow. So, finally I got estimated date of delivery after 3 days of shipping when I was tracking on their site. But, I didn’t get any call, SMS or e-mail that day.

Then, I tracked the order again next day and shocked to see “Unable to locate address”. I called their toll-free number for customer service which has poor IVR than their website. Finally, I talked with their customer service person who lethargically commented that my phone number has been updated(Why should that be updated when that information was already there?) for the order and the delivery guy will call me that day.

But, I didn’t get any call till the evening. Then I called local BlueDart office and got a manager number who gave me another number to report the issue. After a chain of calls, I got contact number of delivery person. I called him myself and explained directions to our home and finally got the parcel. So, I didn’t get any mail/SMS/call from BlueDart after they sent me initial mail with tracking ID. They didn’t even ask for feedback after the delivery.

Another Story:

When I shopped something (lesser important than that BlueDart parcel.) in Flipkart, I got an e-mail and SMS immediately that they will send e-mail when it is shipped. Flipkart uses their own logistics E-Kart to deliver goods. I was able to track that order in Flipkart mobile app too.

I got an SMS and e-mail again when it was shipped and it clearly gave the estimated date of delivery in that message itself. To my surprise, I got details of delivery guy in SMS with the message that good will be delivered that day (It was 2 days before the estimated date of delivery.)

I received call from E-Kart delivery guy that day and good was delivered in advance to the date it estimated. I didn’t do any tracking or I didn’t call any number for this order. That is the difference. And, the best part, they ask feedback too!

Another small story:

When I ordered food using Swiggy app, I get push notifications for every small details like the delivery guy reaching the restaurant with full details about him, picking up the order and successfully delivering it to us. Similarly, Runnr gives live update of delivery on maps even if I don’t have their mobile app. They send a link to track the order in SMS. Also, it gives ETA for every order. Boom, And they give cash offers too!

Inference:

I think logistics model have been redesigned by on-demand services like Swiggy, Runnr and E-Kart etc., But, traditional logistics companies fail to understand this and fail to meet new expectations of consumers.

With multiple updates regarding an order to one’s mail and SMS inbox and sticking to it makes this new set of logistics companies to overtake traditional logistics companies for the deliveries within India. I sincerely wish traditional companies would take notice of this change and adapt quickly.