Flipkart has decided to go full throttle in reaching out and helping small and medium scale Businesses (SMEs). In a major step towards complete empowerment of SMEs in India, Flipkart has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Federation of Indian Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME).
As per the clauses of this MoU, Flipkart will reach out to more than 50,000 small entrepreneurs who are members of FISME and help them in expanding their business operations online.
Some of the advanced business operations which will be provided by Flipkart to SMEs are:
- Free business listing on their online marketplace (which is India’s biggest as of now)
- Training and implementation of data analytics to help them measure their growth
- Online marketing guidance and optimization of their online stores for maximum impact
- Assistance in customer acquisition by leveraging existing Flipkart platform
- Mentorship and guidance in scaling up their businesses without hampering their margins
Ankit Nagori, Vice-President – Marketplace, Flipkart, said while announcing this new development: “We believe the marketplace model is best suited for an emerging economy like India with a huge population. This model has seen traction in the past three years and we want to further use this platform to encourage entrepreneurship in the country,”
Eye on Fashion?
Besides FISME, Flipkart has also signed an MoU with and National Center for Design and Product Development (NCDPD) which is India’s one of the most creative government organization in promoting handicraft based products and accessories all over the world.
This MoU will certainly help small entrepreneurs in this segment, but it will also assist Flipkart in accessing finest creative products in textile and clothing niche.
Even after acquiring Myntra, Flipkart understands that they need some out of the world ideas in clothing and fashion industry to stay ahead of the curve.
Win-Win Situation
Managing a business, either big or small, is certainly a tough job. By entering into a partnership with one of the India’s biggest eCommerce players, both FISME and NCDPD will get benefitted as small entrepreneurs in various sectors can now have access to the emerging digital market.
With the usage of analytics and their market expertise, Flipkart can guide them with the right pricing decisions, automation of payments, optimized and safe packaging, transportation and logistics (the most important of them all!), branding, marketing and more.
On the other hand, for Flipkart, this MoU is a virtual goldmine. Without any additional expenditure (all the above mentioned business operations can be accomplished using existing Flipkart infrastructure), Flipkart is getting access to thousands of Indian SMEs, who have some of the best products to offer. In the fashion scene, they will be getting fresh, new ideas and designs which can be optimally marketed for greater exposure and sales.
We can conclude that it’s a positive, solid step towards empowerment of digital entrepreneurship and a fine example of corporate mentorship to promote entrepreneurship in India.
