Flipkart’s CEO, Binny Bansal, has decided to keep control of the company’s logistics arm under himself even as the e-retailer is throwing its doors open to outside players in the field of logistics.
Flipkart restructured teams in its retail and marketplace divisions soon after Binny Bansal took over from co-founder Sachin Bansal.
Mukesh Bansal, Myntra’s co-founder, who headed the commerce platform initially, will now manage the advertising business that Sachin Bansal started.
The logistics arm of Flipkart was the only business that hadn’t seen a change, but that is all about to change with the company investing $2.5 billion to that end.
Flipkart is keen on adding partners in the logistics part of business and is now picking up stakes in firms to forward these plans.
Logistics start-ups BlackBuck, an online freight booking platform, and QikPod, a product and service start-up, are the two companies Flipkart has invested in so far. A crucial stake has also been bought in MapMyIndia.
When opening a platform for third parties, Flipkart will fulfill the last-mile delivery needs of other players. All the partners that the company is tying up with function in a different area under the larger logistics space, with most being niche players.
Snapdeal, too is betting big on logistics in 2016. It could be seen from the fact that the company has set aside $300 million to strengthen its supply chain and logistics operations, apart from claiming to have reduced delivery times considerably.
Snapdeal has made 10 acquisitions in the past year in the technology, supply chain and payments space. The company also holds an estimated 42 per cent stake in logistics firm Gojavas, which is Snapdeal’s largest supply chain and delivery partner.
Flipkart believes that this move is anti-consumer and against public interest
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