Still hand in hand

Festivals are now about exchanging greetings over text messages, e-mails and social networking sites. But the festival of rakhi continues to be the sole occasion where the services of postal department are still sought. As the custom of sending these threads of love sustains, the business of postal department and innumerable courier services too flourishes.

"We do see a spike of up to 30% in our business during the festive season," said Anil KumarChauhan, Assistant Superintendent of Post Office, India Post.

Chauhan said that special arrangements are made by the postal department for collection and sorting of mails two weeks before Raksha Bandhan.

"Special boxes are kept at post offices and RMS centres at railway stations. Rakhi envelopes are sorted and delivered on priority even on holidays," he said.

Consequently, sales of envelopes and stamps also see an increase. However, the department issues a special pink cover for this festival.

To ensure timely delivery of rakhi, people tend to prefer courier services to ordinary post.

Chauhan claimed that Speed Post is the biggest player in this segment. "The bulk of rakhi mails move towards cities and towns in North India. Since we have a bigger network, we are able to reach small towns and villages. This makes us the first choice," he said.

But it isn't all that easy for India Post as there are innumerable private players vying to grab a substantial chunk of the market pie. "We have a specially-designed service called Rakhi express," said Jitendra Ukudde, operation executive, Blue Dart.

Going a step ahead, DTDC sets up rakhi stalls at their booking offices during the festive season. "We offer 10% discount on rakhi envelopes and also provide special pouches for rakhis so that they do not get damaged in the transit," said GK Sheikh, who runs a franchisee.

Sheikh too agreed that the business increases by 30% during this period.

Yet, private companies need to make offers to attract customers.

"50% discounts are given on envelopes containing rakhis," said Seema Yadav of DHL. "Our specially-designed envelopes have relevant Sanskrit shloks printed on them. The envelope comes with a complimentary rakhi card too. There are also sleek wooden boxes available for rakhis," she explained.

Given the ease and comfort of web-based services, there has been a spurt in deliveries of rakhi through online bookings as well. "Along with rakhi, chocolates, flowers and sweets are also delivered to make it an attractive package," said Sanjay Herodkar, who runs the online service Nagpur Florist. "The response has been good. The customer provides us with the specifications of rakhis and the accompanying gifts, if any. We inform our vendor in that city who delivers the entire package," said Herodkar.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com