3-month old Flipkart’s B2B store for MSMEs see 75% monthly jump in customer base, 90% in transactions

Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: Walmart-owned Flipkart’s business-to-business (B2B) marketplace for MSMEs and kiranas, Flipkart Wholesale app on Monday said its customer base swelled 75 per cent month-on-month while monthly transactions on the platform jumped 90 per cent since its launch in September this year. The company had launched the marketplace with the acquisition of the wholesale business of its parent company Walmart in India that operated 28 Best Price cash-and-carry wholesale stores offering nearly 5,000 items. Flipkart said that the cash-and-carry business saw a 10X growth in e-commerce adoption among its member retailers with large traction from small cities including Kota, Guntur, Amravati, etc.

“At Best Price, during the lockdown, we encouraged members to place orders on our e-commerce platform and have products delivered to them. We also launched a revamped Best Price app and website and saw order volumes surge through our e-commerce channels. Our members adapted very quickly to ordering online and we believe this trend will continue going forward,” said Adarsh Menon, Senior Vice-President and Head, Flipkart Wholesale and Walmart India.

Flipkart Wholesale app e-tails fashion products to MSMEs in 23 cities and had recently launched the grocery category also in NCR. The company claimed 50 per cent month-on-month growth in fashion category suppliers and “enabled 2.5 lakh listings on its platform since its launch,” along with one in every five customers on Flipkart Wholesale coming from Tier-II and III cities.

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The new B2B marketplace leverages Flipkart’s existing technology capabilities and supply chain infrastructure to benefit kiranas and MSMEs. On the other hand, Walmart’s experience in merchandising, relationships with brands, and servicing over 1.5 million members, including kiranas, horecas, and other MSMEs has come in handy for Flipkart’s B2B marketplace to take off smoothly. Importantly, Flipkart’s wholesale arm Flipkart India Private Limited had reported a 12 per cent jump in its FY20 revenues to Rs 34,610 crore from Rs 30,931 in FY19. Its losses had declined 18 per cent to Rs 3,150 crore in FY20. The company is engaged in the wholesale distribution of mobile, television, laptop, tablet, mobile accessory, footwear, clothing, etc.