The express and parcels market in India is growing rapidly and is increasingly attracting investment from the global express integrators such as DHL with its new Indian subsidiary Blue Dart Express, TNT with its purchase of road express company Speedage and FedEx's buy out of its global service partner Prakash Air Freight, Pafex. Even GeoPost is thought to be interested in acquiring a stake in local operator DTDC.

Many commentators forecast that the Indian express market is set to grow at more than 20% p.a. for the next few years which will put some strain on the thousands of small operators serving the local domestic sector, although 20 operators are estimated to account for 50% of the total market.

Against this background global express and mail market research and consultancy firm Triangle has introduced its popular express distribution survey to the Indian domestic and international express delivery market and has now published its first report entitled: 'The Indian Express Distribution Survey 2007'.

Based on 1,230 face to face in depth interviews completed in March-April 2007, spread across the whole country, with shippers of both domestic and international consignments, the survey investigates the factors that differentiate carriers in the eyes of the shipper and presents the findings in the form of competitor carrier benchmark charts. Key distinguishing issues were examined such as customer care, problem resolution, the flow of information between carrier and customer, and the importance of a wide range of services, both domestic and international, including media recall and how various carriers' sales personnel are viewed.

The report shows, for example, that for the carrier descriptors concerning loss and damage to parcels, users are seeking improvements from their service providers whilst when examining the perception of charges, local carriers generally appear to offer better prices than do the major integrators.

Carriers featured in the report include: Aramex, Blue Dart, DTDC, DHL, First Flight, Overnight Express, Pafex, TNT, Professional, Blaze flash, Vichare and Tracon.

Copies of the Indian Express Distribution Survey 2007 are available now from Triangle Management Services via its web site at Market Research or contact Express Director Robin Parr-Davies at Robin.parr.davies@triangle.eu.com or by phone on 00 44 (0)870 950 7900.

Triangle Management Services Ltd, founded in 1984, is today the pre-eminent independent specialist management services company within the global mail, express and logistics sectors. Triangle offers the following services to clients: Recruitment, Market Research, Consultancy, Conferences and Mergers and Acquisitions - all of which focus primarily on the mail and express industry sectors.