August 3, 2014: World’s largest postal service, India Post has joined hands with the e-commerce portal Snapdeal in order to sell stamps. This way, a larger group of audience can buy stamps at their convenience. It is possible to reach a wider number of customers as the retailer Snapdeal has an extensive reach in the country.
This partnership appears to have been targeted specifically at the philately enthusiasts and it will sell both stamps and collections in the price range between Rs 300 and Rs 5,000. Also, there seems to be an additional charge of Rs 50 for the delivery purposes. However, there are some products that come with additional freebies including key rings, coffee mugs and bookmarks.
India Post being the official seller of these stamp collections we expect Snapdeal to deliver the ordered packages to the consumers through postmen rather than the courier persons from private firms.
The first India Postage Stamps were issued in the year 1854 with the ‘India Postage’ inscription. Later in 1947, the first independence stamps (three in number) were launched depicting the National Flag of India, Ashoka Pillar and Aircraft. Ever since then, the Indian government issued over 3,000 stamps.
So far, there are 68 Philatelic Bureaux and 1,111 Philatelic counters in the country. Moreover, the Indian Postal service is considered the world’s largest one as it possesses the largest network of over 1.55 lakh post offices as of March 2009, of which around 1.39 lakh is located in rural areas.
Regarding the partnership to sell stamp collections via Snapdeal, the COO and Co-Founder of the online marketplace, Rohit Bansal stated that stamp collection is a popular hobby and that they found consumers who have faced difficulty in purchasing stamps. With the massive collection of stamps from India Post, it should be really helpful for the consumers.
Also, Kavery Banerjee, Department of Posts Secretary claimed that stamps are the miniature works of art that show the cultures, endeavors, national heritage, tradition and others of the country to the world. Now, it will be easy to find such stamps and other philatelic products at the click of a button.
