Logistics Startup Pickrr Rolls Out Fastrr For Frictionless Checkout Experience

The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed consumer behaviour and buying trends for good, giving rise to online shopping as never before and pushing the ecommerce industry towards a high growth trajectory. An Inc42 report has revealed that the industry is expected to capture 11.4% of the total Indian retail market to reach $200 Bn by 2026. 

The structural shift has provided further impetus to India’s D2C (direct-to-consumer) rush and redefined customers’ online journey, right from product discovery to buying, order fulfilment and shipping. Customers today look for industry best practices and value-added services similar to what global ecommerce giants offer. A slight deviation from standard norms or unorganised, chaotic processes can quickly drive the shoppers away. They also get distracted while visiting and revisiting websites, product hunting or making multiple product comparisons. The outcome: majority of e-shoppers tend to abandon their shopping carts without completing their transactions. 

According to a Pickrr report, nearly 70% of customers add products to their shopping carts but leave the website without purchasing. Out of them, around 60% of shoppers leave due to a long or complicated checkout process. Such incidents can put a spanner in the works and affect a company’s growth due to loss of sales at the final leg.

To recoup lost sales, Pickrr has launched Fastrr, a frictionless checkout solution. This will also help D2C brands boost their sales and improve profitability.

How Fastrr Works

A standard checkout process can be cumbersome, especially for first-time shoppers, as one has to set up an account and fill in address and payment details before going ahead. But Fastrr offers an easy fix by doing away with unnecessary form fields or creating a user account. Instead, it has a seamless one-click checkout solution in place.

Fastrr’s AI-powered system fetches buyer details and auto-fills shipping and billing data, thus skipping the need for manual input. It also uses Pickrr’s logistics intelligence to provide an estimated delivery date (EDD) to enhance the consumer experience. During the first purchase, a shopper can add a mobile number on the gateway portal, generate an OTP and integrate the address details with Pickrr’s database. Next time the person returns, they will be automatically logged in via an OTP sent to the same number that they used the first time.

While this is not new — big ecommerce marketplaces like Amazon have been using similar mechanisms for years — what sets Pickrr’s new solution apart is its resolve to help brands capture similar checkout experience on their own websites to fuel D2C growth in India.

“Brands can get insights into their customers by tapping into Pickrr’s shipping intelligence data which stores over six years of shoppers’ data. With Pickrr’s data vault, a brand (D2C) can improve customer conversions, build customer loyalty and discover new segments of shoppers every day”, said Gaurav Mangla, CEO & cofounder of Pickrr.

“With Fastrr, a shopper can complete the entire checkout in less than 20 seconds by getting the auto-address populated and seeing the EDD and multiple payment options. It saves them the hassle of filling long forms and elevates their shopping experience,” Mangla added.

Fastrr is committed to bringing in more partnerships within its ambit. “We want to serve all D2C and ecommerce brands with our pool of benefits irrespective of the platforms where their stores are hosted,” added Mangla. Currently, D2C brands such as Bella Vita Organic, Hindrishi Ayurveda, Miraggio, KesarCo, Kilta Coffee Co and Dastkhat Studio amongst others are part of Fastrr’s seller ecosystem.

Why D2C Brands Should Go For The ‘Fastrr’ Experience

“Today, a shopper is looking for an easy one-click checkout. We want to democratise this experience across all brands irrespective of the size of their business,” said Mangla. 

Reducing RTOs Is Critical

The ecommerce industry in India is shining amid the gloom of the pandemic, but it comes with its own set of challenges. For instance, a high rate of ecommerce returns slowly kills online businesses. When ecommerce orders get cancelled or do not get delivered, e-retailers have to bear the burden of shipping costs for the RTOs (returns to origin). According to reports, an average of 10-20% of the orders end up as RTOs. This can severely hurt businesses, especially early stage startups, in terms of monetary and resource losses. 

Interestingly, Fastrr can leverage its cutting-edge technology to get rid of this bane to a large extent. Its multi-layered AI/ML engine called the Pickrr Predict — an RTO reduction suite — uses over 100 data points and more than 100 Mn data sets across customer’s purchase history, source and delivery addresses, courier performance, a store’s RTO history, and more to reduce RTOs, the company claims.

Customers are asked to sign in/log in using their mobile numbers. An OTP verified sign-up ensures the correct number, thereby avoiding any bots. Fastrr’s AI-driven capabilities can also track incorrect address/input across different address fields with the help of an auto-suggest address feature, thus mitigating the risk of RTOs due to wrong or incorrect shipping details. “This can help reduce RTOs up to 30%,” said Mangla. 

Managing High-Risk Orders

Digital frauds can be a constant threat to any ecommerce brand. In fact, data from Experian’s Global Insights Report (2021), shows that 46% of businesses in India have seen an increase in fraud. A major chunk of frauds from the buyer’s side come from fraudulent claims, chargebacks, fake buyer accounts, promotion/coupon abuse. When sellers use the Pickrr Predict, it helps them predict and flag orders which are likely to go RTO and enables them to take action against high risk orders

Smart Logistics Solutions

Apart from being an intelligent checkout tool, Fastrr acts as a gateway to Pickrr’s services already in place. When brands partner with Fastrr, they can access Pickrr’s logistics solutions, including shipping and order tracking. With Fastrr in place, shoppers can see accurate delivery dates at checkout, yet another value add-on. Plus, it provides shipping options such as faster delivery and standard-to-no-rush deliveries. Shoppers can customise their preferences at the time of checkout.

When brands leverage Fastrr they also get access to a centralised seller dashboard. Pickrr has integrated the dashboard with all its courier partners —- making it easier for brands to track order details, access courier-wise RTOs and NDR (non delivered report) databases. This way, brands can keep track of shipping and choose the right courier partners.  

In the near future, Fastrr aims to add more solutions, especially targeting customer engagement. Pickrr already has many plans in the pipeline, the company told Inc42. For instance, through new checkout configuration features such as exclusive discounts and offers on Fastrr’s checkout portal, it seeks to help brands retain customer relationships and loyalties. Pickrr claims that Fastrr has already partnered with many ecommerce enablers and is likely to see more D2C brands come on board. 

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