Gati KWE Turns to IBM Commerce to Achieve Greater Efficiency and Process Excellence for Online Retailers

Gati Kintetsu Express (Gati KWE), a pioneer of express distribution and supply chain management in India, has chosen IBM Commerce to help online retailers meet the rising consumer demand for efficient delivery of products.

The e-commerce market in India is expected to grow 37 percent, to reach $20 billion this year, according to market estimates. To meet the demands of an increasingly savvy online population, retailers are under constant pressure to provide enhanced buying experiences across mobile devices and shorter delivery times. This growing e-commerce market poses a challenge to logistics companies, who must keep pace with the consumer demand for instantly available products offered at a competitive price.

Gati KWE, based in Hyderabad, whose delivery network includes air, road and rail, operates a fleet of 3,500 vehicles with more than 3,000 business partners across India. To manage an increasing volume of business with a multitude of retailers, Gati KWE tapped into IBM Commerce capabilities to better integrate and coordinate the complex and time-sensitive flow of products from warehouse to store to home.

In India, the industry typically sees a significant spike in online purchases during festivals. Inventory planning is critical for any retailer to better manage sales and promotions during these seasons in order to meet customer expectations and demands. With IBM Commerce, Gati - KWE can anticipate the high demand for the most popular gift items based on analytic insights that examine past buying behavior. With this insight, they can alert stakeholders that they will require increased inventory to meet market demands without delays. This ensures effective use of inventory and visibility into order cycle times, giving their customers the best buying experience possible while meeting their higher delivery expectations.

According to Dhruv Agarwal, Executive Vice President, Gati, "By the year 2020 outsourced eCommerce fulfillment and associated value added services are poised to grow to a size of Rupees 3000 crore ($500 mn). Through the implementation of this solution, Gati KWE is optimistic to emerge as a leader and aims to corner a dominant share of the opportunities in the e-Fulfillment segment. Gati-KWE always strives to go beyond conventional boundaries to deliver quality service to its customers and we were keen on embracing a more flexible, real-time, and smarter supply chain management model that will be efficient and help us fulfill demand faster,”

Added Deepak Advani, General Manager, IBM Commerce, “For retailers, the supply chain is their backbone. As a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, a broken promise at any touch point can hurt the customer experience and brand loyalty. With more than 400M mobile subscribers and growing, India's businesses need to embrace new innovations to keep pace with higher customer expectations."