Flipkart strengthens supply chain network, aims to create over 100,000 jobs

E-commerce giant Flipkart has strengthened and expanded its supply chain across the country in the run-up to the festive season. The aim is to cater to the growing needs of millions of consumers coming online and to support market access for lakhs of MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), sellers, artisans, and kiranas.

Towards this effort, Flipkart has added 66 new large-scale fulfillment and sortation centers across the country in the states of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The other states include Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal.

“Our supply chain infrastructure and technology-enabled digital ecosystem plays a key role in enabling numerous possibilities by creating lakhs of new jobs,” said Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy. He said this is offering reliable and tech-enabled transformation for traditional warehousing. It is also helping lakhs of local sellers, MSMEs, Kiranas, farmers, and under-served communities to connect with a national market.

Walmart-owned Flipkart has also strengthened its last-mile reach with the addition of more than 1,000 new delivery hubs (DH) across the country. The complexity and scale of Flipkart’s flagship sale event ‘Big Billion Days’ require investments for capacity, storage, sorting,  and packaging. The other such aspects include human resources, training, and delivery, which helps generate additional employment during the festive season. Flipkart has also strengthened the partnership with Kiranas as part of its ‘last-mile delivery partnership’ program and enabled them to become part of the technology-enabled digital ecosystem. This year, Flipkart is creating direct seasonal employment for more than 1,15,000 people of which 15 per cent are women and people with disabilities.

“Flipkart is driving industry and economy, and helping our sellers, artisans, and weavers deliver to the remotest parts of the country,” said Krishnamurthy.

Flipkart is competing with Amazon, Reliance’s JioMart and Tata to tap the festive season.  The festive season requires the supply chain to be scaled up to ensure a seamless movement of shipments across the country to support lakhs of sellers from all over India, helping them deliver an exceptional customer experience. Flipkart’s effort in expansion of supply chain is helping the sellers on one hand while also creating lakhs of direct and indirect jobs across the country.

Hemant Badri, senior vice-president, supply chain at Flipkart

“The mood is upbeat among consumers and sellers,” said Hemant Badri, senior vice-president, supply chain at Flipkart. “But we have to be cautious, as we are still not out of the wounds of the pandemic. The focus is on people safety and customer experience.”

Badri has been travelling across the country especially Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and towns, and rural parts leading teams to build the supply chain.

“Things are improving steadily. At Flipkart, we are all gearing up for the ‘Big Billion Days’ during the festive season,” said Badri. “We have doubled our Kirana network and significantly expanded our delivery hubs.”

As part of the supply chain expansion efforts this year, more than 100 facilities have been added from brand partners to help customers get faster deliveries. The alternate delivery method of Kiranas as delivery partners has been strengthened with 1,00,000 Kirana partners. Flipkart is working with many third-party logistics partners across the country to create faster deliveries while creating indirect job opportunities. It is now servicing customers across 17,700 pin codes through the Jeeves platform with more than 8,000 trained service technicians for Mobiles, large appliances, furniture, and IT peripherals.

Badri said that compared to the last year, Flipkart is much more prepared. Flipkart continues to prioritize the safety and well-being of its employees across its supply chain network. It is taking Covid-19 appropriate measures along with vaccinations of the employees and their families. “We have done more than 100,000 vaccinations for our people,” said Badri. 

 

Flipkart’s 2021 key supply chain expansion efforts 

• 1,15,000 people, jobs to be created by Flipkart of which 15% are women and people with disabilities.

• 66 new fulfillment and sortation centres added by Flipkart across the country.

• These facilities are covering 10 million square feet area and around 20 million cubic feet of storage space.

• 1,000 delivery hubs added reaching the farthest corners of the country.

• 100 facilities have been added from brand partners for faster deliveries.

• The alternate delivery method of Kiranas as delivery partners strengthened with 1,00,000 Kirana partners.

• Servicing customers across 17,700 pin codes through Jeeves platform with more than 8,000 trained service technicians.