Flipkart Wholesale plans to triple footprint in India by serving Kiranas

E-commerce adoption by kiranas on Flipkart Wholesale doubled in Jan-June this year over last year. This is seen growing 180% in July-December 2021, over the same period last year

Flipkart Wholesale, the digital B2B marketplace of the e-commerce giant 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.

Launched in September 2020, Flipkart Wholesale has witnessed strong growth in the first half of 2021 spearheaded by the adoption of e-commerce by retailers and kiranas. E-commerce adoption by kiranas on Flipkart Wholesale doubled in January-June this year compared to last year. This is projected to see 180 per cent growth in July-December 2021, as against the same period last year. Flipkart Wholesale competes with players such as udaan, Amazon and Reliance’s JioMart which are also making huge inroads into this space.

“We launched Flipkart Wholesale with an aim to bring prosperity to the B2B retail ecosystem and solve local pain points of kiranas across the country,” said Adarsh Menon, senior vice president and head-Flipkart Wholesale. “Despite challenges induced by the pandemic, we have seen a strong response from kiranas who are now realizing the benefits of digitization and warming up to e-commerce as the go-to means of purchase.”

Flipkart Wholesale has also seen a surge in suppliers that have come on board on the digital B2B marketplace. The supplier base is expected to grow 58 per cent in 2021. This will further boost the local business ecosystem as well as livelihoods. The company recently rebranded its Best Price cash-and-carry business which it acquired from Walmart India in 2020, while staying committed to the growth and prosperity of kiranas in India through an omnichannel business model.

Flipkart Wholesale witnessed 17 per cent growth in its kirana customer base in January-June 2021 compared to the same period last year; reinstating the trust Kiranas have shown towards the platform. The kirana customer base is projected to further grow by 33 per cent in July-December 2021, compared to the same period last year.

Kiranas will continue to be Flipkart Wholesale’s most important customer segment. They will get access to an even better product assortment at great prices, credit offers, payment options and end-to-end service via feet-on-street associates, app and cash-and-carry stores. The rebranding to Flipkart Wholesale will be seamless for kiranas who will enjoy the same convenience as before. With this, all Best Price touchpoints will now be Flipkart Wholesale making it an eminent omnichannel B2B player.

Flipkart Wholesale leverages the Flipkart Group’s experience and prowess in the digital space. This helps to better serve kiranas and retailers who are increasingly adopting e-commerce as their preferred mode of purchase. Flipkart Wholesale serves over 1.5 million members across the country, which include kiranas, HoReCa (hotels, restaurants and cafeterias) and O&I (offices and institutions).

Flipkart has over 70 fulfilment and sortation centres across the country. The total area is equal to over 10 million sq ft and it is expanding rapidly. A fulfilment center is a logistics warehouse where incoming orders are received, processed and filled. Sortation centre is a facility where shipments are picked according to pin codes.Flipkart recently announced the strengthening of its tech-enabled supply chain network in Maharashtra with the addition of four new fulfilment and sortation centres to support local sellers from the state and cater to the growing demand for e-commerce.

Rival company Amazon India recently announced its plans to expand its fulfillment network in India, with a nearly 40 per cent increase in its storage capacity over the last year. With this expansion, Amazon.in will have more than 43 million cubic feet of storage capacity, across 15 States, supporting around 850,000 sellers across India. Amazon India’s overall fulfillment network will be spread across a floor area of more than 10 million square feet.