Flipkart launches its first grocery fulfilment centre in Northeast

The facility will cater to grocery needs of customers in over 800 pin codes across Guwahati and neighbouring cities and towns

E-commerce firm Flipkart has launched its first grocery fulfilment centre in the northeast region. This is the continuation of its efforts to enable online shopping and doorstep delivery of groceries for an increasingly larger number of consumers across the country,

Located in  Palasbari, near Guwahati in Assam, this facility will create more than 300 direct and indirect jobs and bring market access to thousands of local sellers, MSMEs, and farmers from Assam and the northeast region. This facility will offer customers a wide variety of more than 7,000 regional grocery products across 200 categories including daily household supplies, staples, tea, snacks and beverages, confectionery, personal care and more.

“The northeast has emerged as one of the most important regions for Flipkart as lakhs of sellers, customers, and kirana partners are embracing the online route to meet their needs for daily essentials,” said  Smrithi Ravichandran, vice president – Grocery, Flipkart. “We are elated to launch our first-ever grocery facility in the northeast which will not only help us bring the convenience of online commerce to the doorstep of customers but also make a positive difference to the local economy by providing more opportunities for farmers and sellers. As an all women-run fulfillment center, this will provide a huge impetus to the career progression of our women employees.”

This is Flipkart’s second facility in India, after Coimbatore, which is almost entirely run by women. The center is spread over 123,000 square feet and will cater to the grocery needs of customers in over 800 PIN codes. This is across Guwahati and the neighbouring cities and towns including Agartala, Aizawl, Darjeeling, Dibrugarh, Imphal, Kohima, and Shillong. Flipkart’s grocery offering is backed by an improved user experience, voice-enabled shopping, credit offerings, and open box deliveries.

“Grocery is one of the fastest-growing segments in the country and in the recent past, majority of the consumers have shifted towards online channels to shop for their grocery needs,” said Rajneesh Kumar, senior vice-president and chief corporate affairs officer, Flipkart. “Flipkart has played a pivotal role in ensuring we provide customers with the best experience paired with easy accessibility and convenience to meet their requirements for daily essentials, while bringing much-needed market access for farmers, food processing companies and MSMEs. We are thrilled to launch our latest facility in Assam, as it will help bring several customers, sellers, MSMEs and farmers into the digital fold leading to local prosperity & new livelihood opportunities.”

Flipkart said this latest facility furthers its efforts to support the socio-economic development of the regions. It operates by enhancing the livelihoods of regional MSMEs, sellers, and farmers,  creating direct and indirect jobs, and giving a boost to local businesses engaged in food processing, logistics, packaging, and other allied functions.

Flipkart Grocery currently serves more than 1,800 cities and over 10,000 PIN code areas across all 28 Indian states. It has ramped up its operations in the past two years by establishing 28 fulfillment centers spread over an area of 2.7 million square feet to meet growing nationwide demand. Flipkart Grocery continues to attract first-time online shoppers from Tier-2 and beyond cities with its accessibility and affordability constructs. In an effort to make e-commerce more inclusive for customers, Flipkart has made its app available in 11 Indian languages so far, including Odia, Bengali and Assamese.