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Coimbatore’s Kovai Delivery Boys team launches an app to ring in 10 year celebrations
Coimbatore’s Kovai Delivery Boys team launches an app to ring in 10 year celebrations
Before e-commerce giants like Swiggy and Zomato became synonymous with the delivery services ecosystem, such tasks were usually entrusted to local services operating within a limited radius. Even as the big players continue to hold sway over the sector, smaller, independent services continue to hold their own, one of them being Kovai Delivery Services — Coimbatore's very own Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto and Porter rolled into one — handling everything from restaurant deliveries to groceries and miscellaneous packages.
At the helm is David Raja, who runs the service from his office in Ram Nagar, with delivery executives stationed at the city's major hubs from RS Puram to SITRA. Deliveries are priced at ₹80 for the first five kilometres, with an additional ₹15 per extra kilometre. David launched Kovai Delivery Boys in 2016, and has remained in business amidst the entry of bigger players in the market, even coming out with a mobile app in 2023. Entering its tenth year, David reflects on a decade's journey, its various challenges, setbacks, and comebacks.
Before he decided to strike it out on his own, David, a commerce graduate, was working as an accountant at a private firm, where work hours began at 8 in the morning and lasted until 10 in the night. It was a gruelling schedule with very little in terms of rewards. “It then became a question of what I could take up that would make a difference,” he says adding that it was then that the idea of a local delivery service, one that would handle orders ranging from restaurants to grocery stores and supermarkets, occurred. In a sense, one could say he was ahead of the curve when he entered the market. David recalls how in the initial days, he would handle all the deliveries himself on his two-wheeler. “There were no apps back then, only a phone number that the client would use to place orders,” he adds. With positive feedback , he was soon able to expand his operations, and had a fleet of around 30 delivery executives. “We've never relied on advertising campaigns or anything of that sort. There was always enough word-of-mouth to keep us going,” says the founder.
Among those who joined David when he opened his delivery service is N Vignesh, who has remained with the company over its nine years. “The fact that we have fixed work timings — with an hour in between for lunch break — and no delivery targets to achieve is what sets us apart from the other businesses,” he says. It all seemed smooth sailing until the delivery apps, Swiggy and Zomato among the most prominent, made their entrance in the city. The apps literally brought a whole plethora of options, right from the choice of restaurant to the particular dish, at one's fingertips. This essentially became a body blow for David, who had nurtured a loyal team. “At first, it was the clients who left us; not long after, we lost more than half our staff to these platforms. Business really took a hit. Those days were the toughest,” David says, looking back to those times when business had slowed down to the extent where he was barely making ₹300 a day in deliveries. But giving up simply wasn't an option for him.
The team handles everything from restaurant deliveries and groceries to miscellaneous packages and more | Photo Credit: Siva Saravanan S
However, it wasn't long before things began to get better. At the height of the pandemic, when people were largely confined to their homes, demand for delivery executives began to skyrocket.
“Infection rates were at their peak, and there were strict curbs on venturing outside. This led to higher demand for delivery executives to deliver essentials. Since people across sectors, even in the police sector, were dependent on delivery executives to an extent where the big players couldn't afford to meet, we found ourselves back in business,” says David. Furthermore, there was considerable disenchantment among gig workers towards the larger platforms, which also contributed to many, including several of his own former staff, jumping camp.
If employees like Vignesh have resisted the lure of the bigger players in the business, it is for good reason. “The incentives are better compared to the other delivery platforms, and so are the working conditions,” he said. Several of the company's long time staff have also had their loyalty rewarded. S Rangadurai, who joined the firm in 2018 as a delivery executive, now heads a team of 10 delivery executives. “There are five such heads in the company, each in charge of teams of anywhere between 10to 15 executives,” says Rangadurai.
Realising he had to up his game a little more, David launched the Kovai Delivery Boys app in 2023. “Unlike the big players, we hardly have investors willing to pour the funds required, and I've had to take out loans to roll this out,” he added. While the app has the usual options for food delivery from a plethora of restaurants, it goes beyond just that: users can book appliance repairs, home painting, and even packing and moving services. And it now has a workforce of around 50 to 60 delivery executives, which includes full-time employees as well as part timers.
David's perseverance seems to have paid off in the long run. His delivery executives now make upwards of ₹1,000 a day in deliveries, but the fight is far from over for him. The app, he feels, hasn't yet found the wide reach he'd like for it to, and telephone orders have formed the bulk of his business. “Orders via our app are only about 20%,” he admits. That's the other turnaround David is betting on.
You can download Kovai Delivery Boys app ( on playstore) and Vickee Kovai Delivery BOYS Vickee ( on Apple i store) or call 9944205765/ 9787351919
Published - October 06, 2025 04:56 pm IST
The Hindu MetroPlus / people / society / social services
Source: TheHindu
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