INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Flipkart was planning to operate around 100 fulfilment centres to support its efforts towards quick commerce play.4 min read Last Updated :
Aug 05 2024 | 10:42 PM IST
Walmart-owned e-commerce firm Flipkart has entered the quick-commerce race with a service called Minutes
Flipkart has been planning to enter the 10-minute delivery service space for the past few months.
The service has been launched across
areas such as HSR Layout, Gunjur, Bellandur, and Kadubeesanahalli
These are popular residential and IT hubs witnessing huge demand for quick commerce services
efforts towards quick commerce play during the festive season this year, according to sources.
According to industry sources, 15-20-minute
deliveries provided by players such as Zepto, Instamart, and Blinkit are taking a major portion of the sales of products away from Flipkart
and Amazon.
Flipkart has already introduced same-day delivery of products across multiple categories
This move will enable the Bengaluru-based company to deliver products to millions of customers across 20 cities, including both metro and
non-metro regions.
Some of the non-metro cities include Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Indore, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Nagpur, Patna,
Raipur, Siliguri, and Vijayawada
The firm is scaling this up to cover more cities, including Tier-II and Tier-III locations and categories
However, the quick-commerce initiative is different from this service as the aim is to provide the products much faster.
Hari Kumar G,
vice president and head of grocery at Flipkart, recently said that the company is deepening the reach of its grocery services in metros and
expanding in Tier-2+ towns across Bharat
Kumar said both quick-commerce and next-day delivery models can co-exist
However, the company is also exploring providing quick-commerce services in the future based on the demand it witnesses in certain locations
in the country.
This year tech major Google invested nearly $350 million in Flipkart for a minority share, according to sources
The investment is part of the $1 billion funding round started by Flipkart in 2023
This fundraise will give enough firepower to Flipkart to counter competition from Amazon, Reliance JioMart, and Tata Digital, as well as
expansion spree at the cost of lower short-term margins and aims to increase its dark store count to 2,000 from the current 639 by the end
Blinkit added 113 stores in the first quarter (Q1) of the ongoing financial year (FY25), up from 526 in the previous quarter.
Most of
these stores will be in the top 10 cities in India
core food delivery business both in terms of adjusted revenue and gross order value (GOV) growth
ago.
Another firm, Zepto, plans to double the dark store network to 700 by March 2025
It recently raised $665 million in a funding round that doubled its valuation to $3.6 billion and marks one of the largest financings in
quick commerce this year.First Published: Aug 05 2024 | 10:42 PMIST
