Flipkart brings 27,000 kirana stores on board ahead of its Big Billion Day sale

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Flipkart brings 27,000 kirana stores on board ahead of its Big Billion Day sale
  • Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart has partnered with 27,000 kirana stores across 700 cities.
  • Interestingly, Reliance Jio for its grand e-commerce debut too is working with kirana stores.
  • Flipkart hopes to reach out to Tier 2 and 3 cities faster with this partnership.
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Walmart-owned Flipkart brought 27,000 kirana stores onboard to ensure last mile delivery ahead of Big Billion Day sale. Kirana stores are Indian equivalents of mom and pop stores.

Flipkart is leveraging its in-house tech solution called the ‘Allocation Engine’, to help automate allocation of shipments to delivery agents and partners, including kiranas.

“Our approach to inclusivity for last-mile partners is guided by the synergies we share. After digital payments, the next big revolution in Kirana is going to be ushered in conjunction with e-commerce,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart Group in a statement.

‘Big Billion Days will re-invent kirana stores as convenience stores’

Krishnamurthy hopes this initiative will 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.

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But Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries too has his eyes on Indian kirana stores. Ambani has interests in retail and looking to launch e-commerce vertical too.

“The main purpose of new commerce is to completely transform the unorganised retail market, which accounts for 90% of India's retail industry. The 30 million merchants and kirana shop owners, who generate direct and indirect livelihoods for over 200 million, form the backbone of India's commerce ecosystem.” he said at his annual general meeting in August this year.

While Flipkart hasn’t yet announced the dates of its Big Billion Day sale, it might coincide with Reliance Jio’s e-commerce entry.

Meanwhile for Flipkart, this latest initiative is a step towards reaching out to the cities where most of its consumers are – in Tier 2 and 3 cities. They had also launched a Hindi app to gain its next 200 million consumers.

“Almost 50-60% of our business comes from Tier 2 and 3 cities. With Hindi content, the selection and range of offers has been updated and tens and millions of new consumers can access the app a preferred language,” Rajneesh Kumar, chief corporate officer told Business Insider in an interview, adding that he hopes the upcoming sale will surpass the previous highs.

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Big Billion Day sale is clashing with a severe slowdown but here's why Flipkart is confident
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