Credit in 2 minutes for 1.5 mn kiranas under Flipkart Wholesale's new plan

The digital B2B marketplace has announced the launch of industry-first credit programmes that aim to help kiranas manage their working capital and grow their business

Flipkart Wholesale, the digital B2B marketplace of e-commerce company Flipkart Group, has announced the launch of industry-first credit programs which aim to help kiranas manage their working capital requirements and grow their business.Over 1.5 million kiranas and retailers will be able to avail credit in just two minutes through Flipkart Wholesale’s partnership with lending partners and fintech institutions.

Flipkart Wholesale’s credit offerings, including ‘Easy Credit’ in partnership with IDFC FIRST Bank, are in line with a series of initiatives undertaken to solve local pain points of kiranas in India. The firm said it aims to boost prosperity for them by making their business easier using technology.

Through these new offerings, kiranas can avail credit in just two minutes at zero cost, through end-to-end digital onboarding in partnership with our preferred lending partner, IDFC FIRST Bank and other esteemed fintech institutions. The credit line will range from Rs 5,000 to Rs 2 lakh with an interest-free period of upto 14 days. Kiranas can also avail the benefits of flexible repayment options through cash and online transfers as well as instant refunds in case of order cancellation. They can seamlessly keep a tab on their credit balance and bills.

“Our key goal at Flipkart Wholesale is to make business easier for kiranas and retailers and boost their growth journey,” said Adarsh Menon, senior vice president and head - Flipkart Wholesale. “We believe our new credit plan is tailored to solve local challenges that kiranas in India face and will help them manage their cash flow and improve their purchase experience on our platform, thereby ensuring that the benefits of digitisation trickle to the entire B2B retail ecosystem.”

Flipkart Wholesale serves over 1.5 million members across the country, which include kiranas and retailers, HoReCa (hotels, restaurants and cafeterias) and O&I (offices and institutions).

Flipkart Wholesale customers have access to an array of value propositions. These  include a wide range of Flipkart-assured quality products, simple and convenient order returns and speedy product delivery directly to their shops with an easy order tracking facility and better margins on every product.

Amit Kumar, head-retail liabilities and branch banking – IDFC FIRST Bank, said India’s kirana stores account for over two-thirds of the country’s retail landscape. This traditional trade is now evolving in terms of retail formats and business models.

“As a bank with a digital-first approach and focus on serving the retail ecosystem, we are keen to contribute to the growth of this segment,” said Kumar. “The partnership with Flipkart gives us an opportunity to enable kiranas to access formal credit and scale up business.”

With the change in consumer behaviour after the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), offline retail is becoming the new battleground for e-commerce giants such as Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance’s JioMart and Udaan.

This year Amazon Pay, the digital payment arm of the e-commerce giant, said that it ill facilitate small loans and insurance for kirana shops. The company had said it has empowered over 5 million neighbourhood stores and businesses with its digital payments infrastructure. These SMBs (small and medium businesses), most of whom earlier transacted only in cash, can accept payments from their customers using Amazon Pay’s QR (quick response) code.

Bengaluru-based business-to-business e-commerce start-up Udaan is eyeing to tap a $100 billion opportunity in the next few years. The aim is to have 10 per cent of the total transactions ($1 trillion) on the Udaan platform in the next few years. Most of this growth would come from Bharat, where most of the kiranas are based. It has built scale and created logistics and lending capabilities such as UdaanExpress and UdaanCapital.UdaanCapital has grown 30 times in AUM (assets under management) and 40 times in credit lines over the last 2 years.

Flipkart Wholesale, recently announced its plans to more than triple its geographical footprint in India to close to 2,700 cities. The aim is to make business easier and bring prosperity to lakhs of small businesses and Kiranas across the country.