E-commerce giant Flipkart has launched its online grocery store Supermart in Bengaluru. The company plans to expand the service to six major cities in the country by the end of this year.

The launch comes after the company's rival Amazon India launched, 'Amazon Pantry', its online grocery segment. The grocery divisions of the two are in competition with Big Basket and Grofers, which focus only on selling groceries online in India. Brick and mortar grocers such as Reliance, Godrej's Nature Basket, also offer their products online and delivery-at-doorstep service. E-tail is currently only 0.5 percent of the total grocery market in India.

Flipkart said the groceries portfolio consists of staple foods, FMCG and dairy products that can be accessed through its mobile apps, desktop and mobile websites.

Flipkart said, "Flipkart Supermart will offer bigger discounts, deliver at doorstep at the preferred time slot, offer products with the guarantee of it being fresh and will provide the expiration date of the product on the display page itself."

“With Flipkart Supermart we have solved for problems of assured quality, savings, and convenience to create an unmatched offering. The feedback has been phenomenal. We’re now taking it wider and plan to expand our reach and scale rapidly over the coming months,” said Manish Kumar, head of groceries at Flipkart added.

The company has also set up supply chains that include building a new warehouse and a last-mile delivery network.

The company has also introduced ‘Flipkart Supermart Select’, its private label in staples categories, i.e., pulses, spices, dry fruits, from the variety of brands it will offer.

First Published:Aug 9, 2018 9:30 AM IST