Flipkart Wholesale, the digital B2B marketplace of Flipkart, has announced plans to triple its geographical footprint in India to 2,700 cities. Launched in September 2020, Flipkart Wholesale claims to have witnessed strong growth in the first half of 2021 led by the adoption of e-commerce by retailers and kiranas.
E-commerce adoption by kiranas on Flipkart Wholesale is said to have doubled in January-June this year compared to last year. Further, this vertical is projected to see 180 per cent growth in July-December 2021, as against the same period last year.
The company's supplier base is expected to grow 58 per cent in 2021, which will further boost the local business ecosystem as well as livelihoods. The company recently rebranded its Best Price cash-and-carry business, which it acquired from Walmart India in 2020.
Adarsh Menon, Senior Vice-President, and Head-Flipkart Wholesale, said, “We launched Flipkart Wholesale with an aim to bring prosperity to the B2B retail ecosystem and solve local pain points of kiranas across the country. Despite challenges induced by the pandemic, we have seen a strong response from kiranas who are now realising the benefits of digitisation and warming up to e-commerce as the go-to means of purchase.”
Serving kiranas
Flipkart Wholesale witnessed 17 per cent growth in its kirana customer base in January-June 2021 compared to the same period last year. The kirana customer base is projected to further grow by 33 per cent in July-December 2021, compared to the same period last year.
Flipkart Wholesale enables kirana stores to get access to product assortment, credit offers, payment options, and end-to-end service via feet-on-street associates, app, and cash-and-carry stores. The rebranding to Flipkart Wholesale is said to be seamless for kiranas, who will enjoy the same convenience as before. With this, all Best Price touchpoints will now be Flipkart Wholesale, making it an eminent omni-channel B2B player.
Flipkart Wholesale leverages the Flipkart Group’s experience to better serve kiranas and retailers who are increasingly adopting e-commerce as their preferred mode of purchase. Flipkart Wholesale serves over 1.5 million members across the country, which include kiranas, HoReCa (hotels, restaurants, and cafeterias), and O&I (offices and institutions).