Walmart-owned e-commerce website Flipkart, on Monday, said that it has on-boarded nearly 27,000 'Kirana' shops across 700 cities to strengthen its pan-India supply chain ahead of the company’s upcoming festive event, Big Billion Days.

According to a statement by the company, this will further strengthen and personalise e-commerce experience for its existing 160 million customers and would also help deepen its reach to newer geographies and consumers. Moreover, it would also support 'kiranas' by enhancing their income. The statement added that the new move will also help reach out to millions of new consumers. 

READ | Realme 5 Pro going on sale again on 11 September on Flipkart

Exercise started six months ago

According to a media report, Flipkart began with the exercise around six months back, starting with a customised training programme for kiranas (grocery shop) including soft skills training and how to respond to customer queries or requests on the spot. Additionally, in July this year, the company also launched Samarth programme focusing on artisans, weavers, and handicrafts makers and had partnered with five NGOs to support sellers sell on Flipkart’s marketplace platform.

Talking about the same, the statement said, "The nationwide kirana onboarding started about six months ago, undertaken keeping in mind the massive scale of the upcoming festive season, which witnesses heightened demand from customers from across the country, and also grow the business of our kirana partners.”

READ | Flipkart launches Hindi interface, More local languages coming soon

Flipkart already has a large supply chain network that helps the company reach out to consumers and deliver to over one million shipments every day across almost all pin codes in the country. The move to onboard kirana shops will also help Flipkart scale up its reach across the country, especially in tier II and III towns, the statement read.

Kiranas are the oldest retail format in India- Flipkart CEO

"Kiranas are the oldest and most widely spread retail format in India which exhibit the modernness of the supply chain and deliver a successful customer experience management model...After digital payments, the next big revolution in kirana is going to be ushered in conjunction with e-commerce," Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said. He added that this move is also expected to re-position and re-invent kirana stores like convenience stores from an e-commerce perspective, while also offering them a new source of revenue, making it a win-win situation for all.

READ | Asus 6Z now available at extra Rs 3,000 exchange offer on Flipkart

READ | Flipkart launches free video streaming service in India

(With PTI inputs)