This festival season has surprises in store for hard working employees!

As the festive season kicks off on Monday with big sales promotions, firms which provide last-mile services to ecommerce sites are encouraging their employees to go the extra mile. On offer are silver coins, cash, gift vouchers, gadgets, refurbished homes and the chance to upgrade skills to take on higher-level roles.

These firms include Ola, delivery agencies such as Gojavas and Roadrunnr, and staffing firms such as Quess Corp and TeamLease.

Wiser after the surge in business last year took them by surprise, companies want to make sure they'll be able to handle the extra load this time around.

And a crucial aspect of that is motivating those at the end of the chain. "Compared to last year, when some of these sales saw a great deal of chaos, this time the level of preparedness on the part of the companies is much better," Rituparna Chakraborty, cofounder and senior vice-president, Team-Lease Services, a recruitment agency, told ET. "This in turn will also lead to people performing better and earning more." For example, a delivery person in Bengaluru earning a monthly salary of Rs 12,000 can boost that by 50-60% through incentives, Chakraborty said.

Ola said incentives will help ensure that clients can get cabs when they want. "These initiatives motivate drivers to be more available on the platform during the festive season and will help us bridge the demand-supply gap," said Anand Subramanian, senior director, marketing communications.

Hyperlocal delivery company Roadrunnr's best staff will get silver coins daily. Weekly incentives include kitchenware and electronic gadgets. The company's clients include Snapdeal and Myntra.

The top 10-15 Runnrs, as they are called, will also be trained in soft skills, spoken English and computers to help them in career advancement, said Aneek Mukherjee, director, Roadrunnr. Raj Kumar, 22, hopes he can be one of the winners at Roadrunnr. During the festive season, the number of orders can double to 30 on a weekday compared with 14-15 on regular days and about 20 on the weekend, he said. One of the top performers at his branch in Bengaluru, he said, "These initiatives make all the extra trips worth it."

While India's online retail market is expected to grow to around $50 billion by 2020 from $4 billion at the end of 2014, according to industry estimates, competition among the top ecommerce sites such as Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal will be at full pitch. And with online sellers focusing more on margins rather than discounts, companies will need to work harder on service.

They also need to make sure rivals don't poach their people. "Retention is the biggest challenge since the environment is tight. Everyone from old players to the new is fighting for a share," said Guruprasad Srinivasan, Quess Corp's CEO for people and services. The company provides delivery agents for the top ecommerce companies — staffing has surged to 20,000 from 3,500 in a year. Srinivasan said most ecommerce companies are paying bonuses and incentives this time round. Riders are also crucial for companies such as Faasos, which delivers restaurant orders placed on its website.

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