Flipkart onboards 27,000 kirana shops to strengthen last mile delivery
The move is expected to further strengthen and personalise e-commerce experience for Flipkart's existing 160 million customers, help deepen its reach to newer geographies and consumers and support 'kiranas' by enhancing their income.
Walmart-owned Flipkart on Monday said it has onboarded nearly 27,000 'kirana' shops across 700 cities to strengthen its pan-India supply chain ahead of the festive season.
The move will further strengthen and personalise e-commerce experience for its existing 160 million customers, help deepen its reach to newer geographies and consumers and support 'kiranas' by enhancing their income, a statement said.
It will also help reach out to millions of new consumers during the upcoming festive event, The Big Billion Days, it added.
"The nationwide kirana onboarding started about six months ago, undertaken keeping in mind the massive scale of the upcoming festive season, which witnesses heightened demand from customers from across the country, and also grow the business of our kirana partners," it said.
Flipkart already has a large supply chain network, currently delivering over one million shipments everyday across almost all pincodes in the country.
The move will also help Flipkart scale up its reach across the country, especially in tier II and III towns, it said.
"Kiranas are the oldest and most widely spread retail format in India which exhibit the modernness of the supply chain and deliver a successful customer experience management model...After digital payments, the next big revolution in kirana is going to be ushered in conjunction with e-commerce," Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said.
This will also re-position and re-invent kirana stores as convenience stores from an e-commerce perspective, while offering them a new source of revenue, making it a win-win situation for all, he added.
In August, Flipkart partnered with Logistics Sector Skill Council (LSC) of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to train 20,000 of its delivery executives or 'Wishmasters' across the country.
According to a press release issued by Flipkart, this is the first-ever partnership between an e-commerce company and LSC and is intended to certify the supply chain workforce in all aspects of product delivery and customer experience.
(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)
(Edited by Suman Singh)
