A.P. Moller – Maersk to revolutionise eCommerce in India with a ‘One Country, One Price’ fulfilment solution

The new eCommerce fulfilment soluon will provide single window access to the enre logiscs ecosystem for brands selling their goods online, including eCommerce system integraon, warehousing, country-wide distribuon and returns at a flat rate of INR 80 / USD 1 per order.

MUMBAI: A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) has announced a revolutionary eCommerce fulfilment solutioninIndiawithwhichallelements ofaneCommercefulfilmentsolutionwill be available through a single window at a flat rate of INR 80 per order. This solutionhasprimarilybeentargetedata typical small or medium eCommerce business in India that relies on multiple logistics partners for different activities. With this solution, Maersk is taking the complexities out of its customers’ supply chains by providing single-window access to all required solutions, such as storage in warehouses, last-mile deliveries and executing return orders, all while providing end-to-end visibilityatunifiedpricing.

Vikash Agarwal, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia, said, “India’s eCommerce business has great growth potential. But the highly fragmented market and supply chain complexity are hurdles to many businesses' growth. Withournewsolution,wewanttostaytruetoourpurposeof improving life for all by integrating the world.” He added, “With our ‘One Country, one Price’ solution, we will take complexities out of our customers’ supply chains and grow withthemastheyfocusonwhattheydothebest.”

Boosting trade in a digital Bharat

The recent India e-Conomy Report 2023 shows that in India, the average hours spent per day per user are 6.5 as compared to 5.5 in China and 7 in the USA. However, when it comes to digital payments, the number of real-time transactions per capita per year is 65 in India as compared to 12 in China and 8 in the USA. India had 220 million online shoppers between May 2022 and May 2023.

Further, the report shows there are 700 million internet users in the country, of which 350 million use digital payments. These staggering statistics prove the potential the eCommerce sectorholdsinIndia.

The Integrated Solution

In a typical fulfilment solution for an eCommerce business, multiple interfaces are involved that take care of different elements oflogistics.Itallstartswithpickingupfinishedgoodsfroma manufacturing facility or origin and moving them to a warehouse. Then comes the element of receiving orders through an online eCommerce platform and connecting that order for further processing at a warehouse before it is delivered to the end consumer. All these solutions are managed by more than one logistics partner in India. With the new eCommerce fulfilment solution, all these logistics requirements will be available to the eCommerce business through Maersk as a single partner. The enablers for Maersk to deploy such a solution include multiple warehousingfacilitiesinmultiplecities.

One Country, One Price

The prevalent fragmented logistics solutions are also responsibleforfragmentedbilling.ECommercebusinesses are charged differently and separately for each logistics service rendered, making for extremely complex billing. With its ‘One Country, One Price’ solution, Maersk is bringing all the services under a single charge of INR80/USD1perorder.Thiswillinclude60daysofstorage, delivery across India covering 18000 pin codes in 48 hours, 20%returnstoorigin(RTO)andatnofixedmonthlycostsor nominimumorders.