New to selling online and drowning in terms — AWB, NDR, COD remittance, volumetric? The complete orientation: how a parcel actually moves, who the players are, and which decisions matter first.
The journey in four legs
Pickup (first mile): the courier collects from you. Linehaul: overnight trunk movement between hubs. Last mile: the local rider to the customer's door. Reverse (sometimes): returns and RTOs flowing backward. Every cost and delay lives in one of these legs.
The three carrier types
National couriers (Delhivery, Xpressbees, Blue Dart) cover everything but cost per-kg-zone rates. Hyperlocal fleets (Porter, Borzo, Shadowfax) do same-city fast on per-trip fares. India Post is the coverage backstop — reaches where nothing else does, slower and simpler.
The money model
You preload a wallet; bookings debit it. The 20% platform markup is inside the quote you see; surcharges are already priced. COD collections remit back to you on a cycle. The wallet is the single account all carriers draw from — no per-carrier billing.
The decisions in order
1) Which carriers for your lanes (quote per order). 2) COD or prepaid policy. 3) Packaging spec per product. 4) Daily manifest discipline. 5) The metrics: cost per delivered order, RTO%, TAT adherence. The rest is optimisation.
Pure Parcel runs the whole stack described here — one place for every carrier.
See how →The playbook
Understand the four legs
Pickup → linehaul → delivery → reverse.
Know your carrier types
National, hyperlocal, postal — different jobs.
Set up the wallet
The single funding account for all shipping.
Measure three metrics
Cost/delivered, RTO%, TAT adherence.
