Mahindra SmartShift expands service to Chennai

SmartShift, the digital mobility start-up from the Mahindra Group, has commenced operations in Chennai, its fifth city after Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. Chennai, which has nearly 50,000 small commercial vehicles plying in the city, ranks among the top 10 Indian cities for SCVs. The company is eyeing small and medium businesses, retail and e-commerce areas for the initial phase of growth in Chennai.

SmartShift offers transparent pricing, a one-click booking process and the ability to track cargo after dispatch. Aimed at enabling efficiencies in the last-mile logistics market, it acts as a platform for cargo owners and transporters to work with each other, ensuring a mutually beneficial relationship. It is essentially an intra-city digital load exchange platform for cargo owners and transporters, enabling them to efficiently transport cargo from point A to point B.

In 21 months since launch, SmartShift has recorded traction in the four cities of launch and is claimed to have become the preferred choice for over 16,000 stakeholders, clocking over 1,500 transactions a day. The company is targeting an ambitious one million stakeholders over the next three years.

Speaking at the launch of SmartShift in Chennai, Kausalya Nandakumar, CEO, SmartShift, said, “We are delighted to enter the state of Tamil Nadu by launching our operations in one of its largest cities – Chennai. Chennai is in many ways the gateway into the largest state with respect to SCV penetration. Tamil Nadu is a very evolved and penetrated the market with a strong industrial base. We believe this market has the both the need and digital presence to adopt a market place model like ours and are confident that we will drive exponential value in this market.”

When asked about having just 3,500 vehicles on its platform in the past 21 months, Nandakumar said, “Demand has to pick up so. Also, offering access to the number of trips to vehicles which are already on the platform is important. Thus, it’s not just about the number of vehicles but also the quality. Also, we want both sides to have enough access and ensure they are satisfied on the platform.” 

Although the company aims to reach to 29 cities with 70 percent of the SCV base in the country, the near-term plan is to cover metro cities. The company is currently evaluating cities like Pune, Kolkata, Jaipur, Chandigarh, and NCR as there is huge demand.   

Nandakumar said, “According to a report, the logistics industry in India is pegged at $130 billion with 35-40 percent being in the intra-city space. It is also estimated that 1.8 million small commercial vehicles complete millions of transactions daily, across the country. Going ahead, we will not only focus on enabling improved business productivity for our customers but shall continually nurture customer relationships, moving beyond mere transactional business.”  

SmartShift as an application

India spends nearly 14 percent on logistics, which is considerably higher than the developed world. SmartShift is targeting SMEs, which are often neglected in India, and believes that small and medium businesses spend an average 30 percent of their time on logistics which creates a lot of bottlenecks in their business efficiencies and wants to address their needs.

While taking a transporter to its platform, the company evaluates the driver-owner on 2-3 key parameters like three years of experience, proof of vehicle ownership, driving license and vehicle. The transporters are screened meticulously for reliability. 

SmartShift allows cargo owners to:

-        Book a vehicle in less than 3 minutes

-        Be able to negotiate the best price through a unique first-of-its-kind ‘BID’ feature

-        Choose from a range of certified and trained SmartShifters

-        Track the selected SmartShifter to ensure that his consignment is delivered safely and securely

Simultaneously, the SmartShift application will allow cargo transporters to:

-        Get more business through faster and easier order taking technology

-        Get the option of accepting or declining a delivery request based on pricing or the availability of vehicles

-        Get the opportunity to explore and expand to other markets

-        Higher potential earnings