Walmart-owned Flipkart on Thursday said it has strengthened its supply chain network in Haryana with the addition of four new facilities ahead of the upcoming festive season, a move expected to help create 12,000 job opportunities.
The new fulfilment centres (warehouses) will help create deeper capabilities to support thousands of sellers, MSMEs, small farmers from the state to cater to the growing customer demand, create more employment opportunities while enabling faster deliveries for consumers, a statement said.
Fulfilment centres are specialised facilities where products are received from sellers across the region, processed and packed, and then sent to sortation centres and delivery hubs for delivery to customers.
The new facilities will serve sellers of large appliances, furniture, mobiles, apparel and electronics and are located in Sankpa, Yakubpur, Kulana, and Rewari with a total area of more than 12 lakh sq ft and a storage capacity of over 30 lakh cubic feet, Flipkart said.
“More than 13,000 sellers from the state will get augmented support to reach lakhs of new customers nationally and create additional 12,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state, thereby strengthening the state economy,” it said, adding that these facilities will help serve customers from Haryana and nearby regions.
“Haryana has been at the forefront of promoting the digital way of commerce and has introduced numerous initiatives, including a single-window system to provide for speedy implementation of industrial and other projects.
“Digital commerce is providing new avenues and opportunities for lakhs of MSMEs, which forms a base of India’s economic growth in a big way,” Vikas Gupta, Director General Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Haryana government, said.
With this expansion in the state, Flipkart now has a total of 17 Fulfilment centres (FCs) in regions such as Binola, Bilaspur, Luhari, Ballabgarh and Farrukhnagar, and spread across an area of 44 lakh sq ft, creating around 22,000 thousand direct and indirect job opportunities.
“As a homegrown e-commerce marketplace platform, we are proud to be at the forefront of creating value for all our stakeholders, including sellers, Kiranas, customers, partners and communities,” Flipkart Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajneesh Kumar said.
Haryana has one of Flipkart’s deepest investments with specialised facilities for large appliances, non-large (including mobiles and apparel), grocery and furniture and has played a pivotal role in connecting thousands of sellers from the state to a national market, he added.
In a separate statement, Flipkart said it has expanded its hyperlocal service – Flipkart Quick – to three new metro cities of Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai.
This will provide consumers safe and seamless access to order daily essentials through quick doorstep delivery, it added.
Flipkart Quick – which was launched in Bengaluru last year – will now be available across 10 cities, including Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Hyderabad, Noida, and Pune. By the end of the month, Flipkart Quick will also service consumers in Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, taking the total city count to 14 cities.
Flipkart plans to introduce this hyperlocal service to other cities in a phased manner this year and aims to be present in over 200 cities by the end of 2022.
“We have made strategic investments and partnerships to expand the value of Flipkart Quick in multiple micro-markets across the country. With a successful stint of our hyperlocal service last year, we are now ready to introduce Flipkart Quick in 10 cities ahead of the festive season, for consumers to not just avail fresh fruits and vegetables, snacks and beverages, but also household essentials and baby care products – all under 90 minutes,” Flipkart Vice-President (Flipkart Quick) Sandeep Karwa said.
Flipkart Quick also leverages the company’s investment in Ninjacart and strategic partnerships with other local vendors to build an end-to-end ecosystem.
