Introduction

Due to the change in global business and lifestyle policy the need for delivery business has
increased more than expected. Lots of people are moving from one place to another, leaving their
family, friends behind. But they do like to wish their family friends even to provide them surprise
gifts. Some wished to study abroad, business has gone global. All these facts work as a
influencer in rapid growth in delivery industry.
Sundarban Courier service is a customer driven company, which try to provide customer the
full support and the value they promise. It has been working in delivery industry of Bangladesh
for a more than 30 years. The company maintains its operation in local areas as well as
internationally. The name Sundarban reminds the people of Bangladesh the biggest mangrove
forest at the south and how well the people are protected by the forest from cyclone and other
natural disaster. The company has almost 600 layouts and agents. They have different type of
services for different customers.

Company overview
Sundarban Courier is one of the oldest courier companies in Bangladesh. It had started its
journey in the private sector when Biman Bangladesh Airlines stopped their service in
Bangladesh.
Sundarban courier service (Pvt) Ltd is the founder of the courier service association of
Bangladesh. The Company has a wide range of market in different sectors like, Government;
private, foreign, corporate etc. the head office of sundarban is located in 24-25 Dilkhusha C/A,
Mothijheel, DHAKA.
Mission and Vision
Their goal is to expand Trade and Commerce within the country Linking communications
support, Extending fastest service in time of urgent needs and creating employment opportunities
for unemployed youths which will help in the social and economic development of the country.

Services provided by Sundarban

For different types of customers the demands of type of services vary, so Sundarban has a wide
range of customer services offered. They are General Booking services, Special services,
Express service, super express services, Value declared services and foreign services.

Pestle Analysis:
Political: Since our country is still relatively unstable like others and it is still under developing
countries, any political instability could result in and for this reason the service of courier
companies get affected seriously which can be broke their reputation of providing the service.
Economical: As Sundarban Courier Service is operating both local and internationally. They
cannot charge more than their competitors. In international market industry SCS has to compete
with DHL, FedEx on the other hand in the local market continental, SA courier, etc they have to
consider their pricing.
Social: There has been a rapid change in social behavior of people in third world countries. Now
a day different environmental movements are highly motivate the people. Also the way of
thinking is changed. People do like to wish and send gifts to their families and friends even
though they are living away from them.
Technological: Sundarban Courier Ltd has already been technologically advanced because all
the record and the booking system of the service is online .Through this customers are getting
their service more swiftly.
Environmental: There has been a major change in global environment. Global warming, climate
changing etc has a great impact in consumers buying decisions. Now a day people look for Eco
friendly services and they avail those companies services that perform different environment
saving stuff.
Legal: Postal services are provided with well-defined rates of charges fixed by the government.
The private service providers are free to charge any rate they themselves consider competitive.
Every company has to follow the consumer right protection act 2009. These laws mainly work
with economic operators and product safety. Also they have to maintain the Bangladesh labor
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act 2006, stating that the employees have the right to information from the authority regarding
their workplace and work duties.

Competitor analysis
1. Direct competitors
S.A.Paribahan
S.A. Paribahan (SAP) is an unparalleled or matchless organization in courier and parcel service
sector in Bangladesh. It is providing successful service since 1982 with the government
authorization throughout their belief on courier document and parcel. SA paribahan has a
effective distribution system. And customer also prefer courier and parcel services for quality
and feel comfortable in sending goods from one place to another. For local and international
purpose the company has become a major threat for sundarban Courier Services. It follows the
same strategy to attract the local consumers as well as Bangladeshi people living in foreign
countries (especially the workers at foreign country).
CONTINENTAL COURIER SERVICE

It all began in 1977 with the Continental Progressive Industries Ltd (CPI). However, Continental
Courier Services Ltd. a major portfolio of the Continental group has started first courier service
business in Bangladesh by starting its operations from 1983.Continental Courier Services Ltd.
has created its market by providing door-to-door documents and parcels delivery within the
shortest possible time. Being a local company the main strength of Contnental courier service is
their agents. The agents are well known to the people in that area. But unfortunately the locations
of their facilities are not good so lots of customers dont even know the location of their agents
store.
DHL
DHL is a global parcel and other equipment delivery service company. It has access to more than
220 country and very renowned for its services. The company DHL (BD) has access with lots of
international organizations and also popular for its different Corporate activities- Disaster

management, employee help and environmental protection. In Bangladesh it is associated with

Standard chartered bank and Home bound packers and shipment limited.
The main drawbacks for DHL in Bangladesh are their pricing. They actually charge little higher
than some other local companies.
These companies falls under the same strategic group of Sundarban Courier Services, They are
targeting the same customers and try to follow almost same types of marketing mix. They also
provide almost the same service.

Comparison of services offered by other major provider

Price:
The price of every service companies differ from each other. The major local courier services
pricing strategies are competitive to each other such as SA Paribahan, Continental, Oriental and
Sundarban. But, now some of the international couriers are operating in Bangaladesh. Their
pricing are different from other local services companies like DHL, Aramex, and FedEx.
Market Share:
The market share of the Sundarban is higher from other local competitors. But internationally
DHLs market share is high compare to other competitors. SA Paribahan is the second based on
market share. In international courier service DHL is the market leader. They have the highest
market share compare to other competitors.
Reach:
Sundarban has 600 outlets all over in Bangladesh. Its also has in foreign countries to reach to
their customers in every way. Thats a big total number of outlets Sundarban has compared to
other major competitors.
Trust:
Its a one of the old courier service providers in Bangladesh. For servicing many years it earns
consumer trust. It always tries to best customer service to their customers. They change many

things to cope with the twenty first century and to provide customers a new and comfortable
service.
Promotional tools:
Now Sundarban doesnt do much promotion about their service. Actually its an established
courier brand in Bangladesh. Many customers know about its service. If they have to survive in
Service Company they need to promotion their service, otherwise they are going to lose their
customer. However, other competitors are using many promotional tools to gain many customer
as well as market share.

2. Indirect competitors

For a delivery company like Sundarban courier service the most challenging indirect
competitor is Internet (Email, Skype). This allowed the customers to send soft copy of
their documents rather than the hard copy. Also one can send proper pictures of the

sample materials and its design rather than sending the product itself.
Another indirect competitor for Sundarban courier service in local services is the inter
district Transportation service. Lots of people send their goods through those Bus
services and another person collect the parcel from the receive point.

DEMAND AND SUPPLY SCENARIO

The company sundarban demand and supply basically Varies depending on their outlets
location. The location close to Dhaka cantonment remains busy with different Military parcel
and paper delivery while the distribution centre at Uttara remains busy with different business
deliveries. So their demand fluctuate different time of the year. According to one of their
distribution manager (At khilkhet) we have enough capacity for higher demand. But
unfortunately we witnessed it otherwise. Their employees are not at their optimum level of
performance. So we can conclude that they having excess demand or rather their capacity has
been decreased. One of the customers was complaining that it has been more than a month that
he didnt have his parcel. Though it is difficult for the company to stretch their size overnight,
but

it is highly necessary for them to increase their efficiency. For example, the truck thats
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carries parcel for foreign countries, leave before 2pm. And thats fixed. They should increase
such delivery truck, because there has been a radical development of business with the European
countries. They also need to increase their parcel receiving facts. There is a person known to me,
has been a victim of late delivery of parcel. When I talked with him regarding their performance,
he was more than displeased.
Their demand pattern is cyclic, depending on their location. Every year the rise and fall of
demand comes in the same time. So, to manage the rise of demand they should hire some part
time employees. But there has been a variation of order from the customers, especially when
political violence occurs.
They have different group of customers with different pattern of demand. There is order from
government sector after the Budget or before Eid. The business orders came in general at March
and April. Also, there are other customers orders less than once in a month to deliver any parts.

Typical

service

failure

instances

and

existing

service recovery strategies:

Sometimes customers face some problems when they are getting the service. When customer
sends the delivery to receiver may be that delivery cant arrive in time. Customer will be
disappointed when they dont get the delivery in time. Sometimes the delivery of the things gets
damaged. The service provider should take care of the delivery. They should deliver the courier
in time without any harm to the receiver.
Sometimes the behavior of the service representative is not satisfactory. They dontlisten
customer carefully or they dont want to know the customers problem. The service representative
should enthusiastic about the problems of customers.
The service company should have database management system to store the information of the
customers. So, if there is any problem arises they can inform the customer immediately. It will
enhance the service of the customers. Hence, customer will be benefited too.

Performance monitoring mechanism:

In Sundarban courier service there is a manager who is monitoring all the activities of the
employers. He monitors the employers activities. Employers perform their task or not. Their
behavior with the customer and deliver the service properly. Its important to monitor the
employers activities. Employers misbehavior or do not perform the task properly can lead to the
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service company a big loss. Many customers will switch or they will not come back again. For
that, company will lose these customers. There is no such CCTV mechanism to monitor the
employers performance.

GAP MODEL
Bangladesh rapidly becoming a major economic force, now more and more courier companies is
covering cities, towns and rural areas under their wide network Sundarban courier is one of
them. Basically Services are very different from products. Todays consumer has become
increasingly demanding. They expect high quality customer service. There is always gap
between customer expectations and perceptions. Customer expectations are standers point that
customers bring into the service experience, whereas customers perceptions are subjective
assessments of actual service experience.
Customer gap: Sundarban courier service has some gap between customer expectations and
perceptions.
# Gap 1: Not knowing what customers are expecting
Under gap one the differences between what customers expected of service and company
understanding of those expectations. Sundarban courier service has some lacking things with
their customer at this stage. Like in Sundarban courier service the corporate management dont
have any direct interaction with their customer. Sometimes they are unwilling to ask about
customer expectation. If any customer facing problem with their service they are unable to
directly contact with upward management system so as a result lack of upward communication is
increasing. Sundarban courier service another lacking things is they have no online payment
service. When people with the authority to set priorities and the responsibility to do so do not
fully understand customers service expectation, they may trigger a chain of bad decision and
suboptimal resource allocations that result in perceptions of poor service quality and customers

dissatisfaction.

# Gap 2: Not selecting the right service design and standards

The gap two is difference between managements perceptions of customer expectations and the
translation of those perceptions into service quality specifications and designs. In Sondarban
courier many branches provide low quality of services they are unable to provide good services
because of environment, place, etc thats why they are not sufficient for delivering superior
quality service. The quality of service delivered by customer contact personal is critically
influenced by the standards against which they are evaluated and commented. Sundarban
couriers service also has lack of customer driven service standards and absence of process
management to focus on customer requirements.

# Gap 3: Not delivering the service standards

At this stage the difference between specifications or standards of service quality and the actual
service delivered to the customer. Once service design and standards are in place it would seem
that firms well in its way to delivery high quality service. This assumption is true but it stills not
enough to deliver excellent service. Sundarban sometimes provide their customer poor human
resource policies, failure to match demand .Another reason are:
*Sometimes Customers become more impatient.
*Company agents and frontline employees face rude and arrogant behavior from the customers.
* Too much negative behavior from the customer deteriorates employee performance.
# Gap 4: not matching performances to promises.
Sundarban courier service has some problems at this stage. This stage basically difference
between the services delivered to customers and the promise of the firm to customers about its
service quality. Sundarban always try to give their customer better service but due to some
problems they are failure. One major problem is lack of integrated service marketing
communication. Sometimes differences in policies of units or branches create gap between
customer and company. One of the major difficulties associated with provider gape four is that
communication to customer involves issues that cross organizational boundaries. Another gap is
interactive marketing-the marketing between contact people customer.
In summary external communication whether from marketing communication can create large
customer gap by raising expectation about some delivery .In addition to improving Sundarban
courier service Delivery Company must also manage all communication to customer so that
inflated promises do not lead higher expectation.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF SUNDARBAN COURIER

Strength:
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1. The company Sundarban Courier was able to create enormous trust with its customers
due to their existing name since 1983. It. They have gained the trust and belief from their
customers. Sundarban already has a group of customers, who are availing their services
repeatedly. These groups of customers are loyal to their services and will remain with
them.
2. Effective marketing strategy is strength of Sundarban. They utilize the Pull strategy by
allowing discount for customers who avail their services more repeatedly (especially
business houses). They also use the push strategy by giving extra bonuses to their agents
for more orders.
3. They provide lower cost than their existing competitors- DHL, SA Paribhan.
4. Hiring local agentspeople who are already living in those areas and are known to the
people. So when any of the local business people wants to send something they go for
Sundarban.

Weakness:
1. The primary weakness for Sundarban is their customer R&D sector. They dont take
the customer feedback regarding their services. They could have taken their
performances feedback while delivering the product. They should have asked for
comments and suggestions for their service to the customer, which they dont. Thus
they are unaware about the Demand of service level from the customers.
2. Their poor promotional policy is a great weakness for them. They are unable to attract
new customers as much as their competitors (especially DHL).
3. Sundarban courier service is not an internationally known institute, thus living it
behind in the competition of international market. Whereas competitors like DHL,
FedEx got international recognitions. This let the international community to use
those companies provided service rather than Sundarbans.

Opportunity:
1. As the world business is getting global, the opportunity for courier service business is
also growing. Everyday people need to send documents, sample products through courier
services to abroad.
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2. Now a days lots of student from Bangladesh are trying to apply abroad for higher
studies. So they need to send their documents to the foreign university. Such service
3.

company will find more business through this process.

Globalization has allowed people to go foreign countries for their jobs and business. Lot
of people lives in the foreign. Leaving their families at homeland. And now there is a
change in social behavior. People do like to wish and send gifts and different occasion,
even from the abroad. So there is a huge business opportunity in delivering services.
People can send gifts through such organizations.

Threat:
1. There is always a threat of new entrance in the market. New companies may enter the
market and this may reduce the existing business of the company.
2. Political violation is another threat for the company. More political violation may unrest
the business situation.
3. Inflation rate can be a big problem. Recent economic downfall distress the advancement
of business sales.
4. More development in technology may limit the business opportunity for delivering
services.

Findings:
For the primary research we have conducted 25 surveys. Most of them are students. After doing
my survey I have analyzed the data and have represented the answers in percentage format. The
results are given and described next. The questionnaire consisted of 12 questions of which one
question is open ended, and the remaining 11 are Multiple Choice Questions. The findings from
the questions are Sundarban has a good reputation is delivering their parcel in time. Though there are
some exceptional cases.
The representative of the sundarban couriers is not enough customers oriented. And
their service level towards customer is below average.
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 The overnight delivery of sundarban is not efficient enough. Most of the customers have
faced problem in their overnight delivery.
The company sundarban dont have any effective customer feedback process. General
consumers dont get the opportunity to talk with the upper officials.
Service representative of the Agents of sundarbans are reluctant in providing efficient
service.
The company employees are less friendly and unorganized.
Sundarban courier service doesnt have customer database management system. It will
be easier for the company and customer if they have database system. The information of
every customer will be recorded on database.

Recommendation
Sundarban courier service (pvt) ltd is one of the leading delivery service providers. They should
point out their lacking and then solve it.
They have a good customer base. Every day they are delivering more than 10000 parcels which
is a big number. Thats why they need database management system to record all the customers
information. It will help them in every day courier management. If any problem arises they can
inform them to the customer by calling or messaging. The number will be recorded in the
database.
The service provider should have trained employee. There should be proper training to improve
the efficiency of the employee. The service representative should know how to handle their
customers and how to solve their problems. They should not be impatient. It will not be a good
thing for customer. If customers are dissatisfied they will not come back again. There will be
high chance to switch to other service providers.
Sundarban can develop their delivery service process in online. So, customer can order their
parcel in online. It will help the customer much faster and much more flexible and less time
consumption to complete the process. In this system every customer can confirm his/her parcel
has delivered or rejected and how many quantity has the form being filled with and what they
are.

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There should customer complain box. So, customer can freely complain about the problem that
they face. Service provider should take into consideration and solve the problems as early as
possible.

Conclusion:
In Bangladesh Sundarban Courier Service pvt ltd. is one of the leading private couriers and
approximately 10000 parcels are sending each day. The huge process maintains to need clear
database in every customer and booking system management officer should have enough
knowledge in database management. Proper information management system and employee
efficiency have create the organization success. To create employee efficiency each employee
needs a proper training. In courier management system it is so complicated to reserve customer
information, so database management is very important.

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