Flipkart WiRED 2020 | Campus Case Challenge

Supply chain strategy for Grocery and perishable products delivery to Tier2 cities

About Flipkart
Flipkart, which started operations in 2007 by selling books, is today the largest e-commerce player in
India — with approximately 250 million subscribers operating across 120+ major categories. With the
internet base expanding in India, Flipkart is eyeing this opportunity to come up with many new
initiatives to ensure top-of-the-mind brand recall for online shoppers. Customer First is one of the core
values at Flipkart since inception and here are some of the initiatives that the company has
experimented with to increase customer engagement and mindshare​:

2010 Cash-on-Delivery Service

2011 30 Day Replacement Policy

2012 Fashion & Lifestyle Category Launch

2013 Launched Marketplace & Same Day Delivery

2014 The First ‘Big Billion Day’ Sale

2015 Flipkart Lite - Mobile Focus

2016 No Cost EMI

Private Labels & Expanding Categories

2017 (Large Appliances, Furni-sure, Refurbished business)

2018 Grocery, Shopper Audience Platform (tie-up with Hotstar), Flipkart Plus

2019 Buy Now Pay Later, 2Gud, Supermart, Supercoins, Games, Travels

2020 Quick, 2GUD influencer commerce, Leap, Flipkart Wholesale

 If you want to know more about the innovations by Flipkart visit
https://stories.flipkart.com/category/innovation/

Problem Statement
The emergence of the on-demand economy has revolutionized the traditional business models at an
advanced rate in the last few years. From hailing a cab to getting a spa massage, buying groceries to
ordering food, purchasing medicine to renting furniture, the on-demand apps have made our life easier
than before. Smartphones have become the game-changer for the on-demand delivery business models
even in small towns and rural areas. Flipkart Grocery has been established with an objective of providing
on demand grocery delivery to customer doorstep using a highly cost efficient supply chain model.
Grocery shopping involves building a basket of products including dry grocery and perishable goods and
customers expect a quick delivery and a range of products to choose from. Considering the high cost
involved in delivering Grocery products to customers, it's important that a highly efficient supply chain is
a must to support the business growth aspirations

With evolving customer preferences Grocery on demand is becoming a critical part of customer
requirements in Tier 2 and smaller cities. Perishables like Fruits and vegetables, Dairy & eggs are critical
part of the customer requirements, but managing the supply chain cost while ensuring quick fulfilment
of customer orders remains a key challenge. Transportation of perishable products require a
temperature controlled supply chain which will make the cost of delivery unviable and managing
delivery of orders with products needing different temperature requirements viz ambient, chilled &
frozen is complex. In order to cater to changing customer requirements in smaller cities Grocery supply
chain team is working on a viable supply chain model which can address these challenges

As part of this Exercise we are looking for various models in which grocery order fulfillment can be
extended to smaller towns and its cost viability and scale feasibility without compromising on delivery
experience to customers. We are looking at minimal capital investment and lowest possible supply chain
cost
Key Deliverables for Idea Brief Submission Round:

Flipkart is looking for a comprehensive consultancy solution on ideas or initiatives which is

● Scalable across different geographies and regions

● Best in class experience For Customers by ensuring quicker delivery, extended range of products,
quality of products delivered and high fill rates
● Lowest possible cost of supply chain (cost per delivered order)

1. In not more than 3 slides (excluding cover & annexures), answer the following:
a. Models that you propose in which grocery order fulfillment can be extended to smaller
towns
b. Viability of the ideas proposed

2. Video of not more than 3 mins explaining the rationale behind the ideas proposed. The video
should have all 3 team members.

Important Guidelines for the Idea

● Keep context of current supply chain challenges in India and compatibility of Flipkart in mind while
exploring solutions
● Implementation timeline should not exceed 1-2 years
● Ensuring faster delivery without increasing cost of delivery is critical
● Fulfilling entire order is critical for customer satisfaction and hence order fill rate is a key metric
● Feasibility of the solution to be used even with business scaling up in future