Flipkart launches grocery e-tailing in Mumbai

Global retail giant Walmart-owned e-marketplace operator Flipkart has launched its online grocery operations under the banner 'Flipkart Supermart' in Mumbai. This is the fifth market for Flipkart Supermart, which already has grocery e-stores operational in markets like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and National Capital Region (NCR) over the last 18 months.

“Our current coverage in Mumbai represents 75% of the city's serviceable pin codes, covering western and central suburbs, and up to Navi Mumbai. With the launch of Mumbai operations, we are looking to collaborate with farmers, producer organisations and local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to create a sustainable ecosystem, add jobs to the economy and bring a superior experience to customers,” said Rajneesh Kumar, chief of corporate affairs, Flipkart.

Flipkart has been running a pilot in Mumbai since February this year and post its success, the management decided to open it for ordering across 91 pin codes in Mumbai. The platform's groceries portfolio currently spans staples, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and dairy products, with a private label offering that also offers staples.

The company has set up a huge facilitation centre in Bhiwandi and has established five hubs in Mumbai to be able to do next day deliveries. Investment details pertaining to specialised and separate supply chain, last-mile delivery network and related infrastructure were not disclosed.

“We are also building local sourcing into our grocery business. Currently, in Mumbai, all our dry fruits and pulses are procured from the APMC market. We are expanding this to other offerings, namely sugar from Karad, rice from Nagpur, kismis from Nashik and jaggery from Kolhapur. We have already onboarded 200 vendors for the grocery platform in Mumbai. As the category scales, local sourcing will continue to be a key priority for us, based on learnings, insights and customer feedback,” said Manish Kumar, head of grocery, Flipkart.

The grocery platform is primarily being used by existing Flipkart customers in the four existing markets and the company management sees a similar trend in Mumbai too.

The biggest retail category in the country, grocery is the most under-penetrated among major categories in Indian e-commerce. According to estimates, the grocery market in India is currently pegged at $400 billion and e-commerce accounts for just 0.5% of that.

Source: DNAIndia