19 hrs ago

Flipkart Sees Next 100 Million Customers Coming From Smaller Cities

Flipkart thinks many of its next customers will live in smaller cities and towns.

Its executive Hemant Badri said these places may account for 60–70% of the next 100 million customers.

Many smaller markets have fewer warehouses and delivery networks than big cities.

Flipkart is adding facilities and serving more PIN codes to reach customers there.

It has also brought some appliance deliveries closer to customers.

The company says it doubled same-day and next-day deliveries over the past year.

It plans to expand its faster-delivery service, Flipkart Minutes, into more cities and towns.

Building warehouses in smaller markets can take longer because of land, approvals and logistics challenges.

Key facts

Potential customer share: 60–70% of Flipkart’s next 100 million customers could come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, according to Hemant Badri.
Network expansion: Flipkart’s network grew from around 7,000 nodes to 8,400 facilities.
PIN codes added: Around 750 over the past year.
Appliance travel distance: Average distance fell from around 300 km to 150 km across markets where the supply-chain network was added.
Delivery growth: Same-day and next-day deliveries doubled over the past year.
Minutes expansion plan: Around 1,250 stores across nearly 180 cities and towns, including around 120 locations in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets.
Warehouse construction timeline: Badri said a warehouse could take around 18 months to build in a metro and close to three years in a Tier 2 or Tier 3 market.

businesstoday.in · 1 day ago