In today’s time, e-commerce is growing rapidly. In such a situation, many courier companies have come forward. There are many logistics companies which have brought together all the courier companies, so that all the businesses can be provided the facility of delivery in as many pin codes as possible. Not only this, now partnership has also been made with India Post for courier. Recently, one such logistics startup Shipyaari has partnered with India Post.
Shipyaari was started on 9 April 2013 by Vishal Totla and Nayan Ratandhayara. The company’s turnover in the last financial year was around Rs 23 crore, which is expected to double this year. At present, the company has its business all over the country and has offices in Mumbai, Gurugram, Surat, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Aurangabad. Currently this company provides delivery facility up to about 29,000 pin codes.
How did the idea of Shipyaari come about?
Nayan is Gujarati and Vishal is Marwari. In such a situation, business is in every fiber of both of them. Nayan and Vishal have studied accounting and have obtained CA degrees. Even after becoming a CA, he always had the desire to start a business that could scale quickly. After becoming a CA, Nayan was the finance director in a teleshopping company and during that time he had to face many problems related to logistics. In 2012, e-commerce had just started and teleshopping was facing a lot of problems. Then Nayan thought of creating a platform for small players and started Shipyaari with Vishal. It was also named like this because there is more trust in the friend and one can say anything to him. This business was also started by two friends. In this way Nayan and Vishal named this business Shipyari.
Through this startup, both of them were trying to reduce the time taken by sellers to open courier accounts from 90 days to 90 minutes. He added many courier companies on his platform. This not only saved the sellers’ time, but also increased their reach and provided a cost-effective solution. At the same time, courier companies did not work with small businesses and shipping helped them gain a foothold in this market as well. When the company was started in 2013, there were only two people, Nayan and Vishal. Today about 100 people work in this company. In the last 10 years, Shipyaari has worked with 27-28 thousand users, including big names like Byju’s, TCS and Infosys. At the same time, this startup also provides services to small businesses and those working from home.
There are 5 types of company businesses
When Nayan and Vishal started Shipyaari, this company was only doing courier business, but later it has made a strong hold in many businesses including B2B. This company has 5 types of businesses.
1- The first is courier, under which the company delivers couriers from sellers to customers.
2- The second is B2B transportation and bulk movement, under which truck cargo etc. are taken care of. The company had entered this segment around 2019.
3- The third business is hyperlocal, under which the company provides quick delivery service to e-commerce companies within a radius of 5-10 kilometers.
4- Under the fourth business, the company also provides international courier service.
5- The fifth business of the company is warehousing, under which companies are given the facility to keep inventory.
India Post deal will benefit
Recently Shipyaari has partnered with India Post. Nayan says that a lot has changed in India Post as compared to earlier. Earlier parcels used to get delayed and even get damaged. If we talk about today, everything has changed. India Post’s technology has become better. Now the youth have taken the reins of India Post in their hands, who are more energetic and work faster. The government is also continuously improving its network. After partnership with India Post, now Shipyaari’s shipments will be able to reach every corner of the country. With the help of India Post, goods can be sent even to remote areas.
What is user journey?
To connect with Shipyaari, the user has to first go to the Shipyaari panel and complete KYC there. The account is opened in just 15 minutes. After this you have to recharge your account with an amount. Then you can place your order, for which you have to submit your product details, pickup address, delivery address and payment related information. After this, the delivery executive of the company will come and take the parcel and deliver it at your specified place. You will be charged for this entire service at the time of placing the order.
What is the revenue model of the company?
Shipyaari’s revenue model is simply that it charges money per order. The company does not charge any platform fees. The margin earned on shipping goods is the company’s earnings. The company charges a commission for its services in all its businesses and this is its income.
The company has also faced a lot of challenges
If we talk about a few years ago, people were ready for delivery in 4-5 days. Now people want e-commerce parcels instantly. People compare it with Amazon that the courier gets delivered within a day. For fast delivery, the company has recently started a service called Shipyaari Sprint, in which courier can be delivered as quickly as possible like Amazon. This means that this service will provide the facility of fast delivery.
Funding and future plans
If we talk about funding, this company has been working for 10 years and is bootstrapped. Right now this company is not even thinking about taking funding. Nayan says that he will take funding only when the right time comes. If we talk about the future plan, then Shipyaari’s effort is to put the power of shipping in the hands of the customers. Till now the seller decides which courier company will be used for shipping, how much will be charged and how much time will it take. Now the company is trying to transfer it into the hands of buyers, so that they can decide when they want the goods and from whom. This is the reason why Shipyari’s logo has aa, which stands for Access to Aspiration. However, they may have to pay some extra money for this.
