Flipkart, India’s indigenous e-commerce platform, has opened its first food fulfilment facility in the northeast area, as part of its efforts to enable online shopping and grocery delivery to an expanding number of people across the nation. This facility, which will be built in Palasbari, Assam, near Guwahati, would create over 300 direct and indirect employment and provide market access to thousands of local merchants, MSMEs, and farmers from Assam and the northeast. Customers will be able to choose from over 7,000 regional grocery goods in more than 200 categories, including everyday home necessities, essentials, tea, snacks and drinks, confectionary, personal care, and more.
This is Flipkart’s second facility in India, after Coimbatore, which is nearly exclusively operated by women, in keeping with the company’s people-centric strategy and commitment to improving diversity and inclusion in its supply chain operations. Customers in around 800 PIN codes throughout Guwahati and adjacent cities and towns including as Agartala, Aizawl, Darjeeling, Dibrugarh, Imphal, Kohima, and Shillong would benefit from the centre, which spans 1.23 lakh square feet. Flipkart’s grocery service is bolstered by a better user experience, voice-activated buying, financing options, and open-box delivery.
Smrithi Ravichandran, Vice President – Grocery, Flipkart, said, “The northeast has emerged as one of the most important regions for Flipkart as lakhs of sellers, customers, and kirana partners are embracing the online route to meet their needs for daily essentials. We are elated to launch our first-ever grocery facility in the northeast which will not only help us bring the convenience of online commerce to the doorstep of customers but also make a positive difference to the local economy by providing more opportunities for farmers and sellers. As an all women-run fulfilment centre, this will provide a huge impetus to the career progression of our women employees.”
Rajneesh Kumar, Senior Vice-President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart, said, “Grocery is one of the fastest-growing segments in the country and in the recent past, the majority of the consumers have shifted towards online channels to shop for their grocery needs. As a homegrown company, Flipkart has played a pivotal role in ensuring we provide customers with the best experience paired with easy accessibility and convenience to meet their requirements for daily essentials while bringing much-needed market access for farmers, and food processing companies & MSMEs. We are thrilled to launch our latest facility in Assam, as it will help bring several customers, sellers, MSMEs and farmers into the digital fold leading to local prosperity & new livelihood opportunities.”
Flipkart’s latest facility contributes to the socio-economic development of the regions where it operates by improving the livelihoods of regional MSMEs, sellers, and farmers, creating direct and indirect jobs, and boosting local businesses involved in food processing, logistics, packaging, and other related functions. Flipkart has made its app available in 11 Indian languages so far, including Odia, Bengali, and Assamese, in an effort to make e-commerce more inclusive for users.
