Sanjay received an SMS from the e-commerce company he ordered a product from, notifying that his package will arrive the next day. After waiting for the entire morning, when Sanjay boarded the metro to attend an important meeting, he received a call from the delivery guy saying that his parcel has just arrived. As Sanjay was already headed to office, he asked to deliver the parcel the next day.

Sanjay is not the only online shopper who faces last mile delivery problems. Though online shopping has become quite a rage among consumers, the problems of last mile delivery is one of the main reasons many people are avoiding this option. The instance mentioned above is one of the limitations of the current last mile delivery models. Unfortunately, no one is at fault in such situations. The limitations indicate that there is a need for a new and innovative way to overcome this roadblock.

Roadblocks of Last Mile delivery
The retail companies need to send a large number of parcels to online shoppers at pocket-friendly prices. On the other hand, the customers want their parcels to be delivered at their convenient time and place. In the current scenario, the delivery staff plays an important role in meeting the demand of the customers and the ecommerce companies. Scarcity of resources, a faulty model makes it impossible to meet the needs of both the stakeholders. As a result, there is a need for a low-cost and alternative delivery model like Smartbox.

How is Smartbox different?
Several models including ‘same day’ delivery were tried but something that has the potential to put the e-commerce package delivery system back on track is Smartbox. Under this model, customers have the freedom to pick-up their parcels at conveniently located automated parcel delivery terminals. Smartbox is the first automated parcel delivery network that is present at various convenient locations in Delhi NCR for easy parcel pick-up and drop. The automated delivery system works in three easy steps. Customers can select Smartbox as their parcel delivery location at the time of check out after shopping at any e-commerce partner site. When the parcel is delivered at a Smartbox terminal, customers get an SMS notification and an email along with the OTP. Customers can use the OTP to collect the parcel as per their convenience.

Conclusion
Smartbox enables customers to get their parcels delivered at a time and place that is convenient to them. Currently, present at various locations in Delhi NCR region, this network will expand all over India by the end of 2016 to help consumers and e-commerce companies in 24/7 parcel pick-up and drop respectively. Smartbox brings the much needed security, privacy and flexibility for the delivery of online shopping. It allows customers to pick-up parcels 24/7 as per their convenience.