Bike taxi startup Rapido has launched ‘Rapido Store’, a new inter-city logistics service for businesses to deliver products at consumers’ doorsteps.
The service can be availed by both offline and online businesses, and is currently operational in Bengaluru, and Vijayawada with plans to launch in new cities soon, the startup said.
Rapido Store will help users track all their deliveries across customers simultaneously on a dashboard. The base price of the service starts at ₹35 for 3km in Bangalore, and ₹30 for 3km in Vijayawada currently.
The bike taxi startup said it already has over 200 small and medium business users availing the logistics platform. Rapido Store will leverage the already existing fleet of captains (riders) to ensure prompt, quick, and secured deliveries.
The captains undergo training to ensure timely and safe delivery methods including mandatory safety guidelines such as the use of masks, gloves, and sanitizers.
In April, food delivery startup Swiggy launched a rebranded logistics service called ‘Genie’ that allows users to purchase of any specific item from a particular store in a user’s vicinity. Swiggy’s ‘Genie’ emulates Dunzo’s delivery service that first debuted in Bengaluru in 2014.
Many e-commerce firms, including Amazon and Flipkart, have been re-purposing their businesses to focus on the delivery of essentials to consumers including groceries and medicines.
“Rapido Store will give businesses and entrepreneurs an opportunity to maintain continuity and also increase sales by reaching out to new customers by leveraging Rapido’s extensive network. The service will allow these businesses to overcome manpower and mobility challenges by helping them deliver their orders and save time,” said Rapido co-founder, Aravind Sanka, in a statement.
Founded by Rishikesh S.R., Pavan Guntupalli and Sanka in 2015, Rapido had raised over $75 from investors such as Nexus, Westbridge Capital, Alibaba’s BAce Capital, Shunwei Capital and Integrated Capital.
Rapdio currently has more than 15 lakh registered captains (riders) present in 100 cities. Its entry into the inter-city logistics segment comes at a time when several delivery startups, including Dunzo, Swiggy, and Shadowfax, have been doubling down on similar services since the lockdown in March.
This article was first published on livemint.com