Women kirana partners lead deliveries for Flipkart in India's remote areas

Bilaspur district is located in the outer hills of Satluj valley in Himachal Pradesh. It has steep hills, owing to which there is limited retail coverage. Delivering products in hills comes with its own sets of challenges, such as strong winds and rains. It is this challenge that Sonali Thakur, a 20-year-old-student and a kirana delivery partner at Flipkart, is addressing by making products accessible to the customers living in the hills. Sometimes, Thakur has to travel by foot to deliver in areas not accessible by two-wheelers. 

 “Sometimes, we have to park our vehicles aside and carry the shipment along with the other packages to the customers’ doorstep,” said Thakur. “While my father is financially stable, I wanted to do something of my own, and I chose to join the (Flipkart’s) delivery program while continuing my studies,” she added. 

Thakur is among the many women joining Flipkart’s ‘kirana delivery programme’. They are leading deliveries in remote and deeper pockets. “Walmart-owned Flipkart now witnesses about 12-15 per cent female participation in its ‘kirana delivery programme’, which counts lakhs of general trade stores as its partners,” said Hemant Badri, senior vice-president and head of eKart—the supply chain logistics arm of Flipkart. 

“Over the years, the programme has transformed numerous lives by offering opportunities to have an alternate source of living as well as avenues for digital upskilling,” Badri told Business Standard.

Sonali Thakur, Flipkart Kirana partner

The programme, launched in 2019, is one of India’s largest e-commerce-led delivery programmes, with over 150,000 kiranas onboarded, delivering over 30 per cent of the 100 million plus shipments every month across the country. These kiranas include general trade stores, beauty parlours, godowns, and various other forms of hyper-local businesses. 

The programme enables the kirana partners to make limited time-based deliveries contingent on their comfort and availability and has enabled large-scale participation from women. 

 “The flexibility in operations for the programme is attracting thousands of women, most of these from smaller cities, and enabling them to fund their studies and manage personal priorities,” Badri added.

The programme also enables homemakers to strengthen their family’s financial condition while making the best use of their time. Thirty-year-old Sandeep Kaur from Punjab has been a known face in her locality as one of the first woman kirana delivery partners. She has been making deliveries for over 2.5 years now. She took up the job during the peak Covid-19 pandemic to support her family but continued with it, given the flexibility and benefits. 

“While most of my deliveries are in the city, I also get orders from nearby villages where people order various kinds of things, mostly electronic items which they cannot buy from nearby stores,” said Kaur.

Sandeep Kaur, Flipkart Kirana Delivery Partner from Punjab

Any small store owner having space at their store and spare time can become a Flipkart’s ‘kirana delivery’ partner. After applying for onboarding, one needs to go through a simple background check and a few simple processes to complete the onboarding. After this, Flipkart representatives will visit the shop for verification and background check. 

Thereafter, the kirana delivery partners undergo a four-day training programme on customer management, deliveries and road safety, to name a few. And once the onboarding process is complete, the partners are eligible to receive shipments and make deliveries. The payment is directly deposited in their provided bank accounts twice a month. Besides, they’re also eligible to earn extra income for incentives, especially during the festive season. 

The programme, which started with deliveries of low-cost items, has now expanded to smartphones, various other electronic devices, and even groceries in limited pin codes.

Last year, more than 10 million deliveries were made by these specially-trained kirana partners across the country during the festive season. To support the various needs of the kirana delivery partners, Flipkart has introduced various measures for their well-being ranging from Rs 5 lakh accidental insurance to incentives for deliveries. Also, Flipkart’s delivery app contains an SOS button as a safety measure to offer support in the case of emergencies. 

India is home to over 20 million mom-and-pop or kirana stores and forms the very basis of modern retail in India. After the Covid-19 outbreak, the country is witnessing an increasing collaboration between the older form of retail and e-commerce to drive better customer experience and upskill the ecosystem partners.