Flipkart expands grocery shops to Tamil Nadu, Kerala

Chennai: Flipkart, a homegrown e-commerce marketplace, on Friday announced the expansion of grocery services to Tamil Nadu and Kerala to provide customers access to daily essentials and ensure doorstep delivery.

According to a statement of the company, consumers in Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, and Erode in Tamil Nadu and Ernakulam in Kerala would get access to high-quality grocery essentials.

A grocery centre in Coimbatore has created over 1,100 jobs and assisted local sellers reach wider markets in addition to enhanced market links for local farmers.

Through a regional expansion-focused marketplace model, the new centre would serve more than 150 pincodes in the region. Vice-president (grocery) of Flipkart Smrithi Ravichandran said, "Over the last one year, consumers across the country have warmed up to e-grocery, and Flipkart has sharpened its focus on scaling up this category with sellers, brands and farmers. Grocery is a regionally indexed category, and our focus has been to build local sourcing capabilities to serve local consumer needs with the finest regional selection in addition to bringing the best quality national brands to the consumers' doorstep".

Principal Secretary, Tamil Nadu Industries Department, N Muruganandam said the government is committed to promote investments in logistics and warehousing. "The grocery fulfilment centre will enable local merchants use this infrastructure and widen their market access," he said. Managing director of Tamil Nadu Guidance Pooja Kulkarni said, "The grocery fulfilment centre will aid economic growth of the local eco system. Tamil Nadu being the most urbanised State will give greater impetus to e-commerce business of Flipkart."