Homegrown e-commerce marketplace Flipkart has announced the addition of a new fulfillment center in West Bengal, as it ramps up its supply chain infrastructure in the East to cater to the growing demand for e-commerce services across the region and the country.
Spread across an area of over 2.2 lakh sq. ft. and creating nearly 3,500 direct jobs, the new facility in Dankuni will cater to the needs of both Flipkart and Myntra customers in the region, the company said in a statement.
It will also help thousands of sellers offer a wider selection and enable faster deliveries of customer orders within the region and neighbouring states while also helping create national market access, it added.
The new fulfilment centre (FC) will augment Flipkart’s capabilities to cater to more consumers, including millions of first-time e-commerce users in the East. Interestingly, over 52% of Flipkart consumers are from tier-II and beyond cities, a testament to the growing adoption of e-commerce services.
“We have all benefited tremendously in the past few months with the relentless efforts of e-commerce companies. Flipkart has shown deep commitment in bringing a world-class technology-enabled supply chain to the state and complementing the government’s efforts in meeting the needs of customers and safely delivering essentials,” Member of Parliament Kalyan Banerjee said.
“We are glad that the new fulfillment center will create more than 3,000 jobs in the state and also help MSMEs grow and expand their businesses,” Banerjee said.
With the addition of this new facility in Dankuni, Flipkart now has more than 10 lakh sq. ft. of warehousing space in the state alone and employs over 50,000 people across all these facilities.
This is in addition to lakhs of square feet of warehousing assets from partner brands creating lakhs of direct and indirect job opportunities while also working with over 9,300 Kirana delivery partners and 10,000 sellers from the region, the company said.
“Flipkart’s continued investment in the state is a testament to the enabling environment the state has helped create not just job opportunities but the safe way of deliveries for the consumers. We are hopeful that it will further create many more opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship, and we value the long-standing partnership with Flipkart in helping bring the goodness to ecommerce to the state,” said West Bengal Industries and Commerce Enterprises Secretary Vandana Yadav.
Flipkart has seven fulfillment centres in West Bengal, with a total area spread across 10 lakh sq. ft. and 152 delivery hubs. The Flipkart group has created close to 50,000 jobs in the state, the company claimed.
West Bengal has the 10th largest seller base with 10,000 sellers, the company said.
Flipkart also has a partnership with ‘Biswa Bangla’, a government entity from West Bengal to showcase the traditional Bengali handicrafts, fabrics and artifacts on Flipkart Samarth.
In addition, Flipkart is making e-commerce more inclusive for customers from the East, as the Flipkart app has a language interface in 10 languages, including Hindi, Bengali and Assamese, the company said.
“We are strengthening our supply chain presence in West Bengal and this expansion will help support small and medium businesses from the state while creating thousands of employment opportunities,” commented Hemant Badri, senior vice-president, supply chain at Flipkart.
