10,000 SMEs to become 'millionaires' in 2015, targets Flipkart

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Saurabh Gupta | 11 Feb, 2015
E-commerce major Flipkart has said that it aims to help over 10,000 sellers, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), generate business worth Rs 10 lakh (a million) through its platform this year.

"We aim to have at least 10,000 sellers become millionaires this year through the sales generated on our platform. Today, 20 percent of our sellers do an average business of Rs.1 crore every month. Last year we saw over 2000 sellers become millionaires through Flipkart," SVP - Marketplaces, Flipkart, Ankit Nagori said in an exclusive email interview to SME Times.

He said, "In fact, to encourage and enable sellers grow and expand their businesses, we are offering various initiatives/support like - workshops/sessions, SME training programs, Working capital assistance, Marketing support services like packaging, cataloguing to sellers and through Investments in building a technology platform."

"Last year we saw nearly 60 percent of millionaire sellers coming from metros (Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore) and the rest from the non-metros," he added.

Adding, he said, "In the year 2015 will see that the numbers from the latter will double. Categories like jewellery, home decor & furnishing, large appliances and handloom & handicraft will transform into high performing categories and help drive more margins for the sellers."

He said that the new found enthusiasm amongst the SME's and Flipkart's efforts to enable them through its initiatives will definitely bring in a new wave of change in SME sector.

"In fact, we are seeing an increase in the participation of SMEs from tier 2 and 3 cities since last years. Categories like handloom, handicrafts and local artifacts have emerged as prominent categories on our platform," he added.

Flipkart has one of the largest sellers base in the country today with thousands of sellers selling products across categories. With the aim of encouraging and enabling SMEs, Flipkart has been working with various government bodies and associations like Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) and National Centre for Design & Product Development (NCDPD) to boost manufacturing in India.

To step up the training facilities, Flipkart also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Director General - Employment & Training (DGET), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Ministry of Labour and Employment, Govt of India last year.

Nagori said, "To further enable SMEs to join this model and ensure the success of these artisans and entrepreneurs on the Flipkart marketplace, we have been working on several initiatives to build and strengthen the overall e-commerce ecosystem."

"Flipkart has been working with a few trusted investors/ partners to offer working capital assistance to the sellers since last year. With average loan value of Rs. 5 - 10 lakhs, high loan value up to Rs.50 lakhs is available for sellers. So far, this facility has helped hundreds of SMEs to expand and grow their business through the e-marketplace platform," he added.