COVID-19: Flipkart partners Spencers for hyperlocal deliveries in Hyderabad

Walmart-owned Flipkart on Thursday announced a pilot with retail chain store Spencers to introduce hyperlocal deliveries of groceries and essentials in Hyderabad.

Under the pilot, consumers will be able to order groceries and essentials starting this month from Spencers store on the Flipkart app, a statement said.

The orders will be collected from a set of chosen sample stores across Hyderabad by Flipkart executives and delivered to the customer's doorstep in a timely and hygienic manner, it added.

"This partnership will leverage synergies between the companies to help enable deliveries of essential products to consumers and thereby, promote social distancing in the backdrop of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country," the statement said.

Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said the company is committed to ensuring fulfilling customers' needs amidst the lockdown to promote 'social distancing'.

"...we are initiating various steps in this regard. We are pleased to launch this pilot with Spencers Retail to collaborate and meet the needs of consumers who are contributing to the fight against COVID-19 by staying at home.

"We've built a robust tech-backed platform to offer consumers real-time insights of essentials available in their area and will ensure timely doorstep deliveries," he added.

After the government imposed a 21-day lockdown on March 24, many people have turned to e-commerce platforms to place orders for essential goods, including food and grocery, to stay away from crowds and to practice social distancing.

Many large retail outlets have also been forced to allow less number of people to be present inside store premises to ensure there is adequate distance between them.

"In such times, building an ecosystem of partnerships will transition us to truly become an omni-channel business in serving consumers," Spencers Retail MD and CEO Devendra Chawla said.

"In this tough environment, Spencers' partnership with Flipkart provides another platform to a larger set of consumers to seamlessly access our range of essentials who may want to use other reputed platforms/marketplaces apart from our own Spencers App to buy during the lockdown," he added.

In a separate statement, Flipkart said it has introduced medically-certified hand sanitizers and surgical masks under its private brand -- Flipkart SmartBuy's Health+ range.

Utilising its existing infrastructure, the company aims to provide access to these locally manufactured essentials in light of the increasing demand by consumers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Flipkart SmartBuy Health+ hand sanitizer will be made available in line within the government pricing directive of Rs 250 for 500 ml.

"These sanitizers adhere to FDA approved formulation with alcohol content as per the WHO recommendation," the statement said.

It added that surgical masks (3 ply meltblown face masks) will also be available in different packs priced between Rs 240 to Rs 575.