India's first PARCEL LOCKER from BLUE DART

News Clip: www.globalnewzservice.com

16 October, 2015

Blue Dart Express Ltd., South Asia's premier express air and integrated transportation & distribution company, today launched the country's first PARCEL LOCKER at Gurgaon's Unitech, Cyber Park. With the Indian e-tailing industry expected to grow at 52% from 2014 to 2020, the sector has been witnessing phenomenal demand from across India. PARCEL LOCKER will allow recipients of parcels to collect their shipments from the facility 24-hours a day. This mechanism will benefit e-tail customers who may not be present during regular delivery hours, and can collect their shipments from the PARCEL LOCKER at any time as per their convenience. The service will also be beneficial for those who travel often, especially with the festive season around the corner. While e-tailing offers customers the opportunity to shop around the clock, with PARCEL LOCKER, Blue Dart will offer the convenience of a 24 hours a day/7 days a week/365 days a year delivery mechanism.

This service uses mobile technology in tandem with specially designed lockers to ensure customers get all-day access to their shipments from a safe, secure and convenient facility. As soon as the package is delivered to the PARCEL LOCKER, the e-tail customer will receive a unique security code via SMS. They will have to use this code to unlock the PARCEL LOCKER and collect their shipment at a convenient time. The facility will have an interactive and a parcel storage mechanism. This is yet another product from Blue Dart that demonstrates the benefits of combining technology with business innovation to provide end-users a revolutionary service for ease and convenience. At a later stage the Parcel Locker will also be used to collect reverse shipments from customers.

PARCEL LOCKER will currently be available for prepaid e-tail shipments. In the next phase, the company will also provide automated payment collection consoles at the facility. Blue Dart PARCEL LOCKER in Gurgaon is the first of many such facilities to be set-up by the company pan India. The transportation and distribution major will introduce PARCEL LOCKERS at multiple locations across the country.

Globally DHL, the parent company with a 75% stake in Blue Dart, was the first to launch this service in developed markets. Since its introduction in Germany in 2001 more than 4 million active users have registered for the more than 2750 PARCEL LOCKERS throughout the country. The concept has also been picked-up in US and other European markets. A spurt in online shopping activity in India has rendered e-tailing one of the fastest growing segments for courier firms, necessitating the introduction of such a service. PARCEL LOCKER eases the delivery process for customers who may be away from the shipping address for long hours, effectively revolutionising the way e-business is being done.

Blue Dart Express Limited, Managing Director, Anil Khanna, told GNS Correspondent here today, "At Blue Dart we've constantly strived to provide customers with service innovations keeping in mind changing needs and lifestyles. Blue Dart is the market leading service provider on the last mile for the e-tailing industry in India. The advent of e-tailing in times when many customers are away from their homes during the greater part of the day created the need for a service like the parcel locker facility. Globally, this service has been a success. I'm confident our customers in India will benefit tremendously from such a mechanism that allows them the convenience of collecting their parcels from a safe facility anytime during the day."

Blue Dart was recently featured in the Fortune 500 list of India's Largest Corporations, listed as one of India's Super 50 Companies by Forbes India and was ranked amongst the top 500 non-financial corporations in India in the BW Real 500, a study conducted by Business World and KPMG, the Blue Dart ranking improved to 302 from 421 in 2014.