New Delhi, May 18 (IANS): Hero Lectro, the EV arm of the Hero Motors Company (HMC), is rolling out a new sales and distribution strategy to bolster the market presence of its newly launched e-cargo vehicles that are set to revolutionise the last mile logistics paradigm in India.

The brand is creating new sales channels for its e cargo vehicles across 10 cities initially, with a target of up to 80 multi brand outlets in Delhi-NCR alone.

Hero Lectro recently announced the launch of its first purpose-built cargo vehicle Hero Lectro WINN, an E-Cycle designed specially to address the evolving needs of last mile-e commerce delivery in India. The first of its kind cargo vehicle to hit the Indian market will soon be supplemented by a three-wheeler cargo vehicle.

The need to establish a new sales channel rather than using Hero Cycles' or Hero Lectro's existing wide distribution networks arises from the fact that e-cargo vehicles have an entirely different target consumer than bicycles or conventional e-cycles, said a company statement.

Lectro's cargo e-vehicles are majorly aimed at attracting self-employed workers in the last mile delivery service as these purpose-built vehicles have a huge potential of improving earnings and optimising costs for them as compared to currently used motorised two wheelers.

"Our target clientele for Hero Lectro WINN and other E Cargo vehicles is the consumer who currently buys motorized two wheelers because over 90 per cent of e commerce deliveries are happening on motorcycles or scooters. With Hero Lectro WINN, we are presenting an economically and ergonomically more viable alternative for last mile delivery," said Partha Choudhary, President and CEO, Hero Lectro.

"This is why we are rolling out a distribution strategy that focuses on having presence at shared points or multi brand retail points that are frequented by our target consumer from their age old habit," Choudhary said.

Hero Lectro is first piloting its strategy across Delhi-NCR where it aims to partner around 10 distributors who in turn will enable the presence of Lectro WINN and the brand's subsequent E-Cargo vehicles across at least 80 multi brand retail points.

"By the end of this financial year, our objective is to establish our Cargo E Bike's visibility at upto 80 multi brand outlets where our target consumer currently visits to buy alternative vehicles across Delhi NCR. We have envisaged a density of one outlet every 7-8 kms. This model will then be replicated across 9 other cities namely Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune, Vishakhapatnam, Lucknow and Agra," Choudhary added.

By making its Cargo E-bikes available at outlets selling motorised two wheelers, both new and used, Hero Lectro is aiming to attract this clientele towards its more viable alternative as switching to an E bike implies considerable savings in operational costs along with greater resource optimisation.