Flipkart launches its first grocery fulfillment center in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
- Spread over one lakh square feet, with a storage capacity of 22 lakh units, and generating over 1000 direct and indirect jobs, this is Flipkart’s first Grocery fulfillment center in Andhra Pradesh
- Will help in market access for thousands of small businesses & farmers and offer grocery services across 400 PIN codes in Andhra Pradesh, including Godavari, Kakinada, Mandapeta, Palakol, Rajahmundary, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, and Yanam
- Will ramp up operations during the Big Billion Days to fulfill around 4,000 grocery orders per day in Andhra Pradesh
Spread over one lakh square feet, the fulfillment center will cater to the grocery needs of over 400 PIN codes across Andhra Pradesh in cities and towns, including Godavari, Kakinada, Mandapeta, Palakol, Rajahmundary, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, and Yanam. Flipkart’s grocery business is tech-enabled and offers improved user experience and features such as voice-enabled shopping, credit offerings, and open-box delivery.
Consistent with Flipkart’s people-centric culture and a strong focus on diversity and inclusion (D&I), which are crucial for ensuring sustained growth and greater productivity of supply chain operations, the Vijayawada center will have over 28% women and 6% differently-abled personnel in its workforce. The center aims to scale operations by 50% in less than a month, with a sharp focus on recruitment and training to support the steep ramp-up.
Shri Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture & Cooperation, Marketing, Food Processing, Government of Andhra Pradesh, said, “E-commerce is giving a huge impetus to the growth of the grocery business in India as the online demand for groceries in villages, towns, and small cities is now at par with that in metro cities. I commend Flipkart on its continued efforts to meet this demand and strengthen the online ecosystem for the benefit of businesses and consumers alike. As we sharpen our focus on uplifting the local farmers by providing them a pan-India market access through collaborations with Farmer Producer Organisations, the new facility in Vijayawada will encourage many of our local sellers and MSMEs to become a part of the digital revolution and contribute to business growth and prosperity in the region.”
Smrithi Ravichandran, Vice President – Grocery, Flipkart, said, “The Andhra Pradesh market has tremendous growth potential, as we have seen in recent years, and the establishment of a fulfillment center here will help us improve the service quality and experience for a large number of consumers from the region. As more sellers and kirana partners leverage the Flipkart Marketplace to improve consumer reach, this center will help us meet the growing volume of shipments of daily essentials. It also delivers on our goal of contributing to regional socio-economic development by creating job opportunities, supporting the growth of MSMEs, farmers and enabling greater participation of women and differently-abled employees in the workforce.”
Flipkart continues to support socio-economic development of the regions where it operates by creating and improving livelihood opportunities for regional MSMEs, sellers, and farmers, and by augmenting local businesses engaged in food processing, logistics, packaging, and other allied activities. As part of its D&I initiative within the supply chain, the company has introduced several initiatives and policies for female employees, including the provision of separate facilities for female staff, self-defense training, access to wellness centers, and 24/7 ambulance service in case of emergencies. These initiatives have helped in creating a safe and healthy work environment for them and resulted in good retention rates.
Flipkart Grocery currently serves more than 1,800 cities and 10,000 PIN code areas across India. It has strengthened its operations over the past two years by establishing 23 fulfillment centers over 27.5 lakh square feet to meet the growing nationwide demand. Flipkart continues to attract consumers from non-metro cities, especially Tier-2, Tier-3 and smaller markets owing to its accessibility and affordability features. To enable greater inclusivity and assist customers in their shopping journey, Flipkart has made its app available in 11 Indian languages so far, including Odia, Bengali, and Assamese.