Why fervour of quick delivery is ebbing

What began with the promise of 'delivery in a snap' has now long been forsaken. While it has ensnared people in its trap and made them accustomed to receiving their orders in the comfort of their homes, the fervour of quick delivery is ebbing.

What stands in the way of that initial commitment? The reason is the heavy traffic congestion that ails India.

As per a survey conducted by Borzo, formerly WeFast, a global intra-city delivery service, 86.8% of gig delivery riders surveyed said that the traffic congestion in their delivery area is high, while 13.2% of delivery partners shared that they do not suffer from traffic congestion.

To gauge the challenges such as traffic and road conditions, incidents, delivery pressures, parking availability, and signal duration from the perspective of gig delivery riders, 5,310 delivery workers were surveyed.

Additionally, 23.7% of the respondents reported that the traffic situation has worsened over the past year. The survey also highlighted the top reasons that make deliveries slow - 55.5% of the respondents stated that traffic is the primary reason for slow deliveries while 26.4% gig delivery workers attribute road closure due to constructions as the reason for slow deliveries and 12% of respondents state bad/uneven roads as a factor for slow deliveries.

In India's bustling cities, traffic congestion has posed a serious problem to delays and inefficiencies in last-mile deliveries.

"Since the delivery radius and route of riders is similar during daily operations, there’s a need to relook at the challenges such as traffic congestion and management, signal duration, parking infrastructure, road conditions to greatly improve the efficiency of last-mile logistics sector," says Eugene Panfilov, general manager, Borzo India.

The findings also reveal that when asked about the main factors contributing to traffic congestion in their delivery areas, respondents identified road construction (35.9%) and the high volume of vehicles on roads (39.2%) as the primary causes. Meanwhile, uneven parking on roads accounted for 15.8% problems and narrow lanes 6%.

With traffic congestion acting as a barrier on one hand and on the other in an attempt to keep the promise of quick delivery, unfortunately, the number of accidents involving delivery partners has also increased. The survey reveals that 55.5% of the delivery riders have gotten in traffic accidents or near-miss incidents while making deliveries.

Whereas 44.5% respondents state that during deliveries they have not been involved in any untoward incidents.

Reeling under the pressure of delivering fast, the survey also examined the impact of this burden that the riders carry. Results showed that 50.7% of the respondents admitted to occasionally speeding on their bikes due to this reason.

The challenges faced by delivery riders in meeting tight delivery timelines and the potential risks associated with time constraints, needs thorough consideration by the industry," observes Panfilov.