90 minutes or less! Flipkart's hyperlocal delivery service

COVID-19 has forced us to stay in our homes. When even the work is shifted from office to work from home, we know that things are not as simple as they look. As the world is being asked to avoid going out, the dependence on e-commerce is increasing. This has encouraged the Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart to launch a delivery service that will make the lives of people a lot easier. Flipkart's hyperlocal delivery service will have a test run in Bengaluru next week and it will deliver products to the people from the nearby stores as well as Flipkart warehouses in about 90-minutes only.

In the test run, the focus will be on delivering groceries initially. The e-commerce company is planning to use the logistics capabilities of the startup Shadowfax which saw investment from Flipkart of about $60 million last year. As Amazon and JioMart by Reliance have also entered this market, the competition has further increased.

As a result of the pandemic, many offline retailers are looking forward to joining hands with digital platforms to meet the demands of the customers and this will give an opportunity to Flipkart to expand itself by reaching out to modern retailers in a neighbourhood. A few months ago, retail chains like Vishal Mega Mart and Spencers joined hands with Flipkart to enable hyperlocal deliveries of essentials to people.

This delivery will be available through Flipkart apps. In addition to this, 'Voice Assistance' a voice technology which was introduced by Flipkart to help customers discover and buy products easily using the command is expected to be first added to Flipkart's grocery platform.

This idea of Flipkart's hyperlocal delivery service is the need for the hour. It will serve as a link between the brick and mortar business and online retailers thereby giving everyone an opportunity to receive the benefits of this service.