Flipkart opens up logistics arm to other ecommerce firms; plans NFT play too
Mumbai/Bengaluru: Ecommerce major Flipkart has opened up its internal logistics arm Ekart to other ecommerce players , people briefed on the matter said. Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy also discussed this at a company town hall on Wednesday, according to people privy to the matter.
According to sources, Ekart has added about 30 clients and is looking to onboard more as it doubles down on leveraging its internal logistics infrastructure to service non-Flipkart orders.
Before the Walmart deal in 2018, Flipkart had once attempted opening up Ekart to external platforms on a small scale but the project wasn’t expanded as the company was still figuring out how to best serve its own order volumes. “This time, they (Flipkart) are going to double down on Ekart serving non-Flipkart group orders as existing group businesses are covered at scale by the in-house logistics infrastructure,” a person aware of the matter said.
Going forward, orders for companies such as Nykaa, FirstCry and others could be delivered by Ekart. “The opening up was gradually done from January onwards and now it has about 30 companies including Snapdeal and others,” one of the sources said. Sources in third-party logistics companies also said Ekart has held talks with several ecommerce platforms to fulfill their shipments. “It looks like they are serious about it this time,” an executive at a logistics firm said.
Flipkart and Amazon India service most of their orders through their in-house logistics firms – Ekart and Amazon Transport Services — while others such as Meesho and direct-to-consumer brands work with third-party companies such as Delhivery, Ecom Express and Xpressbees.
While Ekart has opened itself up to external customers, it is unlikely to do business with Amazon India or Meesho as they are direct competitors.
A Flipkart spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
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