NE BUSINESS BUREAU
BENGALURU, APRIL 18
A homegrown leading E-commerce company Flipcart, is continuously working with the seller community to provide them with support and enabling business readiness as these businesses await to make a comeback online. With around two lakh sellers on its platform, Flipkart’s seller support team is providing constant counsel and on-ground support to sellers on its platform to help them resume operations in a few days and help consumers in this time of need as they continue to stay indoors. The analytics teams are supporting sellers with market intelligence to ensure smooth listings on the platforms. Also, the supply chain team continues to maintain an intense focus on safety and health procedures in all Flipkart facilities and staff that will support the movement of goods for sellers, according to a release from the company.
According to the release, few other initiatives undertaken by Flipkart for seller are
SERVICE SUPPORT
- Flipkart has provided its sellers the flexibility of choosing to work or not work during the lockdown period, without any concerns of their performance metrics being hampered
- Sellers who are servicing in the essential items categories are being given regular update on the product demand and what they should be adding in their inventory to maintain a healthy stock
- Flipkart has offered all its sellers a health insurance plan, specific to COVID-19 to cover the sellers along with their families and employees, in partnership with Digit Insurance at special rates, with a coverage ranging between Rs.50,000 to Rs.3,00,000 per individual with annual premiums starting at Rs.369
- Flipkart has extended the ongoing premium services availed by sellers such as Flipkart CareTouch Select service, a premium service that allows sellers to get quicker resolutions for their business-related queries, and Paid Account Managers – where sellers get dedicated managers who work with them closely to grow their business, to include the lockdown period in their subscription terms so that their investment is not hampered
- Flipkart has also waived off the storage fee for April, under its Fulfilled by Flipkart service that allows sellers to store their inventory in Flipkart Fulfilment Centres for faster deliveries
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
- All the payments related to cancelled orders in the lockdown period are underway and are being settled in the upcoming payment cycles
- Flipkart is also offering some special offers on loans that sellers can avail through Flipkart’s Growth Capital programme, a programme designed specifically to enable independence for MSMEs who operate online. Through the programme, over 1L+ sellers are already able to avail credit at competitive interest rates with an approval time of one day and disbursal within 48 hours
- A 3-month moratorium period has also been implemented on existing loans availed through Flipkart’s Growth Capital programme. This means that sellers are not obligated to make a payment during this period
- Further, any additional amount on seller’s existing loans, sanctioned during this period, will have an extended financial limit with a 6-month moratorium period
- For SPF claims, sellers have been given an extension for all the returns received between Mar 07 – Mar 23 to ensure that they have enough time to raise their claims once the company fully resumes its operations
- Also, sellers do not have to wait for 60 days from the date of return request to raise an SPF claim, and can raise it as soon as the lockdown lifts and the company fully resumes its operations
A company release said.
