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Shadowfax, India's largest crowdsourced delivery platform, has launched a real-time serviceability integration API designed specifically for hyperlocal marketplaces. The solution enables online platforms to accurately determine delivery feasibility in real time, helping them meet fluctuating customer demand while maintaining high service standards.
Operating across 13 cities with a network of 5,000+ daily active delivery personnel, Shadowfax leverages real-time GPS data from its Rider App to provide instant delivery estimates based on store location, customer location, and rider availability.
The new serviceability API allows marketplaces to assess whether an order can be delivered within a specified time window before accepting it.
By analyzing:
Shadowfax provides a real-time estimate of the possible delivery time, often within the next hour.
This ensures that marketplaces only display and accept orders from stores that can realistically fulfill deliveries within the promised timeframe.
One of the biggest challenges for hyperlocal marketplaces is accepting orders that later become difficult to fulfill due to rider shortages or delivery delays.
With Shadowfax's serviceability engine:
As a result, partner platforms have reduced customer cancellations to less than 0.5%, creating a more seamless customer experience.
The API continuously evaluates rider movement and availability across a city.
Based on the rider's:
Shadowfax estimates the geographical areas from which the rider can potentially pick up a new order within a configurable time window.
This time threshold can be customized by different marketplace partners according to their operational requirements.
The computed serviceability data is shared directly with online platforms through push APIs, enabling real-time updates without requiring constant polling.
Whenever serviceability conditions change, the platform immediately receives updated information about:
According to Dipesh Mittal, an IIT Delhi alumnus and Head of Engineering at Shadowfax, the system continuously recalculates serviceability based on several rider-related events.
The platform updates rider availability when:
“This evaluation of any region in a city is being done every time a rider in the vicinity becomes available or busy. Multiple events change the availability of the rider, which includes delivery of an order, allotment of a new order, or when the rider marks himself available/unavailable for service,” said Dipesh Mittal.
Shadowfax is also developing a sophisticated streaming analytics engine capable of performing server-side geofencing to trigger real-time location-based events.
This next-generation infrastructure will further enhance delivery accuracy and operational efficiency by providing instant notifications when riders enter or leave strategic service zones.
Beyond API integration, Shadowfax provides marketplace partners with complete visibility into operational performance through real-time dashboards.
These dashboards help businesses:
The increased visibility enables marketplaces to make faster and more informed operational decisions throughout the day.
Shadowfax's logistics intelligence goes beyond current rider availability.
According to Yadunath Gupta, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus and Head of Data Science at Shadowfax, the company uses historical and real-time data to predict rider availability before it actually occurs.
The system analyzes:
This allows Shadowfax to forecast when riders will become available and proactively determine serviceability across different regions.
“At Shadowfax, for allocation of new orders, we also analyse past data points to predict ETA of the riders completing an order nearby. This enables us to pre-empt the serviceability of a region. The entire thing is being done in a real-time engine,” said Yadunath Gupta.
Shadowfax's serviceability API has already been successfully integrated with several leading platforms.
As one of India's largest online food marketplaces, Zomato utilizes Shadowfax's real-time serviceability capabilities to improve delivery reliability and customer satisfaction.
Shadowfax also maintains an exclusive integration with BigBasket's Specialty service, further strengthening its position as the preferred logistics partner for hyperlocal commerce.
Driven by increasing demand for reliable last-mile delivery infrastructure, Shadowfax's marketplace business has witnessed remarkable expansion.
The company reports:
Shadowfax is India's largest crowdsourced delivery platform, providing technology-enabled last-mile logistics solutions across food delivery, grocery, pharmacy, and e-commerce sectors.
Its intelligent logistics network combines real-time rider tracking, predictive analytics, and marketplace integrations to help businesses deliver superior customer experiences at scale.
With a relentless focus on technology and operational excellence, Shadowfax continues to work toward its vision of becoming India's most trusted and desirable delivery platform for businesses and consumers alike.
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