In response to the Covid outbreak, India imposed one of the world’s tightest statewide lockdowns in March last year. This limited people’s access only to essential commodities.
Hence, eCommerce adoption exploded, bringing an increasing number of individuals online. People over the age of 60, for example, who were previously uninterested in shopping online, began to do so.
It is no wonder then that integrated end-to-end logistics solutions are in high demand in India today and in the future. The need for an integrated digital presence for logistic companies is becoming especially obvious.
The field is populated by a diverse set of participants, ranging from small exporters and importers, medium-sized and big dealers, and multinational corporations (MNCs). As a result, integration, process standardization, technical advancement, and digital transformation will continue to occur in the industry.
ClickPost, a startup from Gurgaon that uses data science to optimize supply chain performance, is one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies in India. It already has a base of 120+ carrier partners, with a strength of 60+ employees.
What’s the story behind the startup?
ClickPost was founded by Naman Vijay and Prashant Gupta in 2015. In just two years of operation, the firm became profitable. It is now handling more than 10 million shipments each month, with a 600% year-over-year growth rate. Big names like Puma, Caratlane, Nykaa, PharmEasy, 1mg, Realme, and others are among its clients.
CEO Vijay shares how they began as a logistics aggregator, working as a logistics partner to clients and relying on other logistics suppliers to complete the deliveries.
“Our clients noticed the seamless API communications that we were having with the delivery partners and aspired for the same technology to fill the gap between them and their logistics partners. This lack of integrations was leading to unsatisfactory after-sales customer experience and revenue leakages. We then started selling our logistics intelligence platform as a SaaS platform in 2017. This enabled clients to have a transparent and more effective way to manage their end-to-end logistics operations,” Vijay says.
What makes ClickPost so effective?
At its core, ClickPost is a logistics intelligence platform for eCommerce companies and courier companies. This means that it is not involved in physically delivering products but it helps eCommerce companies in tracking and managing shipments, returns, delays, and failed deliveries.
This makes things much more organized for the companies, and more importantly, increases customer satisfaction manifold.
Its AI-powered platform automates the time-consuming work of logistically arranging goods deliveries, from choosing a delivery partner to tracking deliveries.
Customers are updated about the delivery’s movement, along with an estimated delivery date. Any shipping delays or problems are immediately reported. ClickPost offers a monitoring page that is personalized to match the website’s look and aids in cross-selling.
How Far Has The Firm Come?
According to Tracxn, ClickPost has a funding of $940k, as of June 2020. Its investors include big names like Times Internet, Rebright Partners, AngelList, among others.
During the pandemic breakout, eCommerce initially saw a dip. However, the industry was one of the few sectors to come back stronger than it was pre-covid. The founders talk about how ClickPost fully utilized this boom to rise and help retail companies invest in their online selling capabilities.
“We are working with 150+ eCommerce companies across India and Middle-East and processing about 12 million shipments monthly. Most eCommerce vertical leaders in India use ClickPost,” Vijay informs.
Today, ClickPost is one of the country’s most promising SaaS emerging platforms. It was classified as a ‘High Performer’ by G2 in the Shipping software category last quarter; the only Indian startup to do so. Last year, ClickPost won the coveted Emerge 50 award from NASSCOM for being one of the most innovative young software companies in India.
It has a positive EBITDA, meaning that ClickPost is turning profits: it sells its products higher than it costs to produce them. According to its founders, ClickPost is growing three times each year.
“For the first 12 months, we were building the product with some early customers. Now we are the largest player in our segment with most large enterprises trusting ClickPost for their post-purchase customer experience.”
Where is the future headed?
According to a survey by consultant Redseer, India’s logistics sector was valued at $320 billion in 2019 and contributed 11% of the country’s GDP.
“Logistics has remained a backbone for numerous businesses,” the consultancy notes, “and has developed its technology-based products to fit diverse sectors and their demands throughout the years.”
According to Redseer’s research, e-commerce transportation increased by 70% year over year to 2.55 billion shipments in 2020, and it expects this to rise to over 10.5 billion by 2025.
The Software as a Service (SaaS) sector in India has seen 5x revenue growth since 2016 due to exponential digital adoption across businesses. It is destined for rapid expansion by 2025.
According to a survey published by Chiratae Ventures and Zinnov, demand for SaaS is predicted to outgrow that of IT by the latter half of the decade. This hope is echoed by ClickPost’s founders, who urge new entrepreneurs to take advantage of this emerging sector.
The paper titled Indian SaaS Revolution: Rising Trillion Dollar Global Opportunity (by Zinnov) says India’s SaaS market sales would expand eight times from $5.3 billion in 2020 to $42.2 billion in 2025 if present growth rates continue. According to the paper, industry sales would expand 14 times to $75.3 billion by 2025 if fast expansion continues.
Asked about ClickPost’s future plans, Vijay states:
“On the product front, there are multiple innovations that we are bringing to the Indian eCommerce market. The priorities are COD reconciliation platform which will help eCommerce companies completely automate cash reconciliation with different courier partners. (ClickPost is also planning for) RTO reduction tool which would help eCommerce companies reduce return-to-origin and increase delivery percentage.”
ClickPost is already the largest player in its niche in India and is growing in the Middle East and South East Asia. It plans to expand to the US soon.
