Homegrown e-commerce giant Flipkart has expanded its grocery services to more than 50 cities through its pan-India marketplace. The e-commerce platform said that this expansion will provide customers from seven metro cities and over 40 neighbouring cities access to high-quality grocery products. They are also offering savings and offers, and quick deliveries.
Flipkart Grocery offers over 7,000 products across over 200 categories from daily household supplies, staples including atta, dal, oil, ghee, snacks and beverages, confectionary, personal care, dairy and eggs among others.
This expansion follows Flipkart's investment in its grocery services over the years that resulted in a scale up. Flipkart's grocery services are available to the customers in metro cities of Kolkata, Pune and Ahmedabad. The company has expanded its services to cities beyond metros including Mysore, Kanpur, Warangal, Allahabad, Aligarh, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Rajkot, Vadodara, Vellore, Tirupati and Daman.
The e-commerce giant said that the pandemic led to millions of people turning to online shopping and digital transactions. This has led to a sharp growth in consumer demand for e-grocery in both metros and Tier-2 cities.
"Grocery continues to be one of the fastest-growing categories, with the increase in demand for quality food and household supplies from users. In line with this, we have invested in scaling up our grocery operations across the country, strengthening ecosystem partnerships, thus ensuring a seamless grocery shopping experience through an expansive product selection, robust supply chain and smooth in-app experience for consumers. We have witnessed increased demand for groceries from tier 2 cities in the past year, fuelled by customers increasing preference for contactless shopping, from the comforts of their home. It is a trend that we think will continue and will set the course of e-grocery space in India," said Manish Kumar, Senior Vice President - Grocery, General Merchandise and Furniture, Flipkart.
Flipkart's grocery unit has seen 3X growth in the last year due to increased demand.
A recent Redseer Consulting report says that more than 50 per cent, amounting to nearly $570 billion grocery retail space in India is addressable by e-grocery platforms. Value-first households account for 61 per cent, with metro and Tier 1 markets covering more than 40 per cent.
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