More companies are using delivery services as a selling point

It is interesting how something as seemingly simple as a delivery can become a major focus of business. We have all experienced bad delivery services. A package that only needs to go a few towns over somehow winds up on the other side of the country, causing a one-day delivery to take well over a week. And then there is the fallout of a damaged package, which can immediately ruin anyone's day and have far bigger implications, depending on what was being shipped and if it was damaged.

While those are a few of the negatives to delivery, when it is done right, it can be an immediate selling point for the business. We are all aware of the "30 minutes or less" guarantee that our favorite pizza place uses to drum up extra business, but speedy delivery is becoming something that many different organizations are leaning on either to start a new branch of business or improve a service that already exists.

As this blog has covered over the last few weeks, companies like Google and Amazon are rolling out various same-day delivery services. Amazon is testing a version in New York City and Los Angeles that will allow individuals to place and receive orders the same day. Google is a little different as its service allows local retailers to make deliveries straight to customers.

This idea is even spreading to companies overseas. According to an article from The Hindu Business Line, India e-commerce company Snapdeal is trying to take a bigger piece of the $3 billion marketplace and is using an improved delivery service to stand out. The company is setting up 40 order fulfillment centers across 15 cities and is promising to have orders processed and at your door in "just two hours."

The company will be able to get this plan off the ground by raising $100 million. The goal is to be able to compete with its rivals like Amazon and Flipkart, both of which offer same day delivery in several cities and have plans to expand to as many as 30 in the years to come.

For Snapdeal, another part of the business plan is to partner with small and midsized businesses that do not have the resources to handle their own deliveries. The belief is that this will account for over 75 percent of business in the new service. These companies will be able to store their products in a fulfillment center and where Snapdeal will handle the deliveries.

"Our vision is to partner with 100,000 sellers in the next 12 months and to create an ecosystem that allows businesses to sell online," Rohit Bansal, co-Founder & COO, Snapdeal.com told the news source.

The use of a delivery service is something that many organizations have done in the past, but touting quick delivery as the reason to do business is a new phenomenon. With the help of a third party logistics and delivery service, any company will be able to start up a new portion of business that focuses on getting products to your door.