70 pc grocery merchants join ecommerce during festive sale: Flipkart Wholesale

Digital B2B platform Flipkart Wholesale recently said the company's grocery member base has increased 30 percent to over five lakh, and 70 percent of them have adopted ecommerce during the 'Big Billion Days' festive sale event.

Flipkart Wholesale claimed that kirana merchants, coming from cities such as Bhopal, Kota, Lucknow, and Zirakpur, clocked in 1.8 times increase in sales.

"The Big Billion Days, which concluded on October 10, 2021, witnessed a 70 percent ecommerce adoption by kiranas across the country compared to the same period last year," the company said in a statement.

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"Over five lakh kiranas in over 10,000 pin codes across 24 States and Union Territories shopped on the platform and through the Flipkart Wholesale Best Price stores during the festive event," it added.

The general merchandise category on the platform recorded a 124 percent increase in purchases, followed by grocery that witnessed a 50 percent rise in demand, and fashion increased by 24 percent.

"We are elated at the enormous response the festive event has generated. Our technology-first approach at helping small businesses' growth has resulted in the increased adoption of ecommerce and accelerated the pace of digitisation. The benefits of a more resilient and self-reliant B2B ecosystem, enabled by digitisation, will be felt in the long run," said Adarsh Menon, Senior Vice-President and Head of Flipkart Wholesale.

Along with its banking and financial services partners, the platform claimed to have facilitated credit up to the tune of Rs 165 crore for members across categories during the Big Billion Days.

It claimed to provide interest-free credit through an end-to-end digital process and "buy now pay later" option to 1.5 lakh kiranas, with credit lines ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25 lakh, in partnership with banks and fintech lenders.