Flipkart plans to tap 50,000 MSMEs for expanding in small towns

Online marketplace giant Flipkart plans a major drive to bring 50,000 medium and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) under their fold by the end of this year. The company claims to have almost 100,000 MSMEs on the platform. This move, the firm believes, will create a million secondary jobs as part of the necessary logistics that would have to be in place for rapid growth.

For Flipkart, onboarding MSMEs as sellers on the platform is crucial as it will help the firm in sourcing maximum number of categories locally as well as help in faster deliveries and cut logistics costs. In the next phase of growth, which heavily hinges on expansion in tier-III cities and small towns, the MSMEs connect would help it cover maximum ground. “Our knowledge and understanding of the Indian ecosystem allow us to construct frameworks such as ‘Growth Capital’ through which sellers can scale their businesses, prosper, create more employment opportunities, and continue to transform the country’s economy,” Kalyan Krishnamurthy, group chief executive officer, Flipkart, said.