Flipkart Wholesale launches digital platform for MSMEs

Ashish M. Shaji

23 Sep, 2020

Flipkart wholesale, the digital B2B (business to business) marketplace of e-commerce major Flipkart Group, launched a digital platform for kiranas, local MSMEs with an intention to connect local manufacturers with retailers and bring the entire wholesale marketplace at its fingertips with technology.

What is B2B digital platform?

Digital B2B platforms encompass all the digital communications, sales, commerce, and engagement channels that manufacturers can use in order to communicate with prospects, customers, employees, and colleagues. From websites to social media and from email marketing to online video, manufacturers use digital B2B platforms to connect with their customers throughout every phase of their online decision journey.

Flipkart’s digital platform

The development happens at a time when the Indian online marketplace has been buzzing more than before and that too, after Reliance Retail’s mega acquisition of Future Group’s key businesses, including retail and wholesale.

The Walmart owned e-commerce major entered the B2B wholesale sector with the fashion category. 

The company, in an official release, stated that Flipkart Wholesale is a one-stop solution for the retail ecosystem, which will offer businesses of India a wide selection of products at a significant value, powered by the technology and with an aim to grow their businesses. The company further stated that the platform is presently available for fashion retailers, especially footwear and apparel in Gurugram, Delhi, and Bangalore, with plans to expand to Mumbai as well.

By the end of this year, Flipkart Wholesale also plans to expand to 20 cities more and in categories such as Home and Kitchen and Grocery. The Digital B2B platform, which is accessible to retailers through the app on the Google Play store, seeks to rope in more than 300 strategic partners and have more than 2 lakh listings in two months. Moreover, the platform will enable the onboarding of 50 brands and more than 250 local manufacturers in the future.

The objective of this Flipkart wholesale using technology

In the words of Adarsh Menon, Senior Vice President and Head of Flipkart Wholesale said that the Flipkart Wholesale is built on the core value proposition of bringing prosperity to Indian Kiranas and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by making their business more comfortable with the use of technology. 

He further said that with the strong capability in the group in B2B, they would focus on meeting the requirements of Kiranas and MSMEs by providing these small businesses with a wide selection at significant value, powered by the technology to make their lives easy.

Whether in grocery, or general merchandise, or fashion, these businesses would have one-stop access to an extensive selection of products along with attractive schemes and incentives supplemented with a data-driven recommendation for stock selection, delivered through fast and reliable network to bring in greater efficiencies.

How will it benefit the Flipkart Wholesale customers?

As per the company, the Flipkart Wholesale customers will be benefited in the following ways:

• Flipkart Wholesale customers shall have access to a comfortable credit facility to manage cash flow, a wide range of Flipkart assured quality products, convenient and straightforward order returns;
• A speed product delivery directly to their shops with an easy order tracking facility; and
• Flipkart wholesale customers would be able to leverage micro-market level B2B and B2C insights from the Flipkart ecosystem to better understand the customer demands specific to their area so that they can buy and sell the right products.

Conclusion

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