First hyperlocal startups like Grofers and Peppertap entered with a bang and made news when they raised huge funds. Then established players like Bigbasket, LocalBanya, followed suit. Ecommerce giant Amazon moved next. And now Flipkart is also getting into the hyperlocal game in order to compete with the fresh lot of on-demand startups.
Co-founder and CEO of Flipkart, Binny Bansal said, “We are doing a ton of stuff (with hyperlocal). We are serious about it. Hyperlocal needs to be done in the right way.”
As of now Flipkart is tightlipped about their plans. But what’s known is that the online marketplace will be working closely with on-demand logistic companies, Delhivery and Roadrunnr to turn hyperlocal deliveries into reality. After identifying that their delivery partner, Ekart won’t be able to fulfill all orders during peak shopping time such as Diwali, Flipkart is looking to outsource logistics. All this to strengthen its delivery network.
In April this year, IOS shared with you how according to Peter Guarraia, partner at consultancy firm Bain and Co, on-demand delivery is going to be the next battlefield in Indian ecommerce industry. Also, that it’s going to be an important tool to gain competitive advantage. Paying heed to what Mr. Guarraia emphasized, ecommerce companies have started to build supply chain and logistics as a competitive strategy.
Adopting hyperlocal delivery system enables these on-demand service expectations. It not only helps to reduce delivery time but also greatly benefits small and medium offline retailers who are important links in the on-demand supply chain.
Ecommerce players like Grofers, Peppertap that follow exclusive hyperlocal model are happy about big ecommerce players entering this segment. Co-founder of Grofers, Albinder Dhindsa asserted, “It’s good. At one level it proves that hyperlocal businesses will be relevant in the ecosystem for a while. Entry by Flipkart, Amazon, etc., into this space will also accelerate growth as multiple people will be working with merchants and customers to increase adoption of hyperlocal.”
Reduced shipping & logistics costs, higher credibility, quicker delivery, reasonable pricing, involvement of offline retailers and much healthy business atmosphere are all key features of hyperlocal business model. Isn’t that great? Let us know your views.
Editor team is specialized in introducing the marketplace content targeting the Indian online sellers. They plan and coordinate to bring the appealing content for the small businesses on how to partner with the e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart and strategies for improving their online business.
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