Flipkart Starts Hyperlocal Delivery Again

Flipkart India has re-launched its hyperlocal delivery initiative in suburban areas of Bengaluru. The areas include Whitefield, Panathur, HSR Layout, BTM Layout, Banashankari, RK Puram, and Indiranagar where Flipkart Quick is operational.

The company aims to deliver perishable goods, groceries, electronic, and stationery products within 90 minutes. The customers can book a slot between 6 pm to midnight to schedule the delivery of their products. They are now operating with improved location mapping technology using latitudes and altitudes rather than pin code.

“This is a great model for India as households of all sizes are already used to their neighborhood Kirana stores. Indian families are so comfortable with what we call the ‘hyperlocal context’, that there is a tendency to develop deep, familial ties with vendors, shopkeepers and service providers – now with the convenience of e-commerce,” said Sandeep Karwa, Vice president of Flipkart.

Operating predominantly now in the above-said areas, the company charges around 30 Bucks for each delivery and they have announced that they will expand the area of service by next month. It is also said that Flipkart would own 100% of Walmart’s stake in India which has around 28 warehouse stores in India.

Sandeep Karwa also said, “While we start with our dark store model, wherein we enable sellers to store inventory close to the consumer; this model has the potential of encouraging local entrepreneurship and enabling new business strategies and partnerships. Today, with Flipkart Quick – our Hyperlocal capability, we have the potential to bring together the whole network of neighborhood Kirana stores onto our platform with just a click.”