In a bid to enable cross-border trade for small Indian businesses and sellers, e-commerce giant Flipkart has partnered with Sastodeal, a leading online shopping platform in Nepal.
Under the partnership, Sastodeal will host products from Flipkart sellers across categories including babycare & kids, audio devices, men’s clothing, women’s ethnic wear, and sports & fitness, among others. In the first phase, the partnership will see more than 5,000 products from the above mentioned categories listed on Sastodeal.
The move opens a completely new market for Indian MSMEs and will contribute towards boosting their business, which would be especially useful in the current COVID-19-caused slowdown.
Flipkart is hopeful that the partnership will give sellers further confidence in joining the e-commerce space. The e-tailer said that it has 200,000 sellers across in India and over 50% of them come from smaller cities such as Jaipur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Meerut, Surat, Kanpur, Agra, Coimbatore, and Ahmedabad.
Jagjeet Harode, Head of Marketplace, Flipkart said, “The partnership with Sastodeal will not just open doors for a wider market reaches to our Indian sellers but also allow them to boost their business significantly. The e-commerce business in Nepal has huge potential as more and more consumers take to online shopping. The trust a brand like Flipkart has amongst consumers along with the love of a local company like Sastodeal enjoys; makes the value proposition for consumers even more exciting. We are confident that new growth avenues such as this will boost the economic sentiment and growth prospects for local MSMEs in India.”
The partnership with Sastodeal will also help build the long-term development of the e-commerce industry in both countries.
Sastodeal will list products from Flipkart’s own brands MarQ and SmartBuy, covering categories such as electronics, home appliances, home decor, and furnishings. Providing sellers partners yet another opportunity to manufacture locally and expand reach beyond India, Flipkart will enable sellers to make these private brands readily-available to Nepalese consumers, with the fulfilment promise by Sastodeal.
Dev Iyer, Vice President of Private Brands at Flipkart said, “Given our understanding of what consumers need and focus on quality products; it was a natural step for us to take our brands to markets beyond India. The preference of consumers in a country like Nepal is very similar to India. Sastodeal enjoys immense consumer trust in the Nepal market, which gives us further encouragement that consumers will love what we have to offer under the partnership.”
Amun Thapa, CEO, Sastodeal, “The opportunity brought by Flipkart for Nepalese consumers is going to build a strong growth story for e-commerce in our country. Customers in Nepal increasingly look forward to products with best-in-class features and quality, and with a trusted brand like Flipkart, we can fulfil their requirements and enhance their experience on our platform. We are ensuring that customers get access to these products readily and hoping that together, this partnership can modernise the consumer landscape in Nepal significantly, especially in the current times.”
Tim Gocher, Founding CEO of Sastodeal’s single-largest shareholder, Dolma Impact Fund said, “This is a natural next step in Sastodeal’s remarkable growth story. It perfectly aligns with their customer-focussed mission to offer attractive products and prices to consumers and businesses alike.”
