Flipkart launches ‘Flipkart Quick’ - promises delivery of items in 90 minutes

Flipkart Quick delivers goods across categories like grocery, dairy, meat, mobiles, electronics accessories, stationery items and home accessories.

Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, today announced the launch of its hyperlocal service - ‘Flipkart Quick’ building on its technology capabilities and supply chain infrastructure. Flipkart Quick is aimed to offer unmatched customer experience, riding on wide selection, top-class quality and a new location mapping technology framework. The hyperlocal delivery model aims to tap new consumers by widening the accessibility of products and enabling consumers to order products from Flipkart hubs in their location, ensuring quick delivery.

Modernising consumers’ daily shopping experience in terms of product accessibility, availability and affordability, Flipkart Quick will provide consumers with a handpicked assortment of more than 2,000 products in categories varying from Grocery, Fresh, Dairy, Meat, Mobiles, Electronics Accessories, Stationery Items and Home Accessories in the first phase. Consumers can choose to order in the next 90 minutes or book a 2-hour slot as per their convenience. Customers can place orders anytime of the day, and get their orders delivered between 6am to midnight; starting with a minimum delivery fee Rs 29.

Commenting on the launch, Sandeep Karwa, vice president, Flipkart, said, “Hyperlocal capabilities can be described simply as building connections between locally available products and consumers in a particular area. This is a great model for India as households of all sizes are already used to their neighbourhood Kirana stores. In fact, 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. While we start with our dark store (no-walkin) 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 neighbourhood Kirana stores onto our platform with just a click.”

Flipkart Quick will debut in Bengaluru in select locations, including Whitefield, Panathur, HSR Layout, BTM Layout, Banashankari, KR Puram and Indiranagar.

Flipkart Quick will adopt a latitude and longitude approach that will not only narrow down the location to be more precise but will also result in sharper delivery time. Moving away from the traditional model of using a pin-code system to identify the delivery location, which can span across a larger area, Flipkart Quick will use innovative and advanced technology for location mapping. This technology promises to not only speed up the last mile process, but also bring more accuracy to the address mapping system, hence avoiding chances of mismatch or re- attempts.

Retail in India, both online and offline, has been witnessing radical changes over the past two years. But over the last 50 days or so, we have witnessed unique innovations and business models emerge with great agility and operational efficiencies. Halfway through the year of the pandemic, supply chains have transformed drastically. The hyperlocal category, known for being a convenience for many, has now emerged to be a long-term essential service for the country. It has led to a significant change in consumer psyche and expectations with the CAGR expected to be considerable, with the Indian hyperlocal market potentially exceeding INR 2,306 crore by 2020 (pre-COVID industry estimates).