Walmart-owned Flipkart on Tuesday launched 'Flipkart Boost', a new programme aimed at helping digital-first consumer brands to grow their business. Through a service fee model, Flipkart Boost will provide end-to-end support covering planning, advertising, cataloguing, logistics, quality control and mentoring to emerging 'Made in India' brands, a statement said. The move is also expected to help Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME). 

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"As India's homegrown e-commerce marketplace, our primary goal is to expand our offerings in line with evolving customer preferences; while ensuring empowerment of Indian MSMEs (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) and partnering in the 'Make in India' mission," Flipkart Senior Vice President and Head (Corporate Development) Ravi Iyer said.

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"The onset of the pandemic and the resulting rise of direct-to-consumer brands have boosted the MSME sector in India. The growing popularity of digital-first brands driven by a focus on specific customer needs demonstrates immense market potential," he added.

The Flipkart Boost programme will shortlist brands based on a set of pre-decided objective criteria, which includes their growth potential, sustainable revenue run rate, focus on quality, commitment to building a long-lasting brand, strong product mix and customer orientation, it added.

"Based on certain criteria, brands can apply directly on the Flipkart seller platform, of which 100 brands will be chosen for the programme this year," it said.

The selected brands will also have the opportunity to secure potential funding from a network of venture capital funds and active investors in the D2C space, including A91 Partners, DSG Consumer Partners, Fireside Ventures, Matrix Partners India, Sequoia Capital India and Stellaris Venture Partners.

Selected brands will be able to leverage Flipkart's expertise across functions using value-driven business insights, expand digital visibility, and penetrate various geographies with the ideal solutions to strengthen their presence and create measurable impact among customers, it said.

The Flipkart Boost programme will enable growth opportunities for these brands through insights into their performance and customer traction, it added.

Flipkart said the programme was piloted with several brands (including Delight Foods and beauty products company Pilgrim) earlier this year and these brands represented a diverse range of segments, including F&B, baby care, lifestyle, beauty and home improvement.

With the Flipkart Boost Programme, the aim is to build and nurture these growing customer-focused businesses by providing them relevant mentoring that covers access to a network of investors, market intelligence, scalability programmes, and marketing engagements, he said.

Flipkart cited an Avendus Capital report to state that the D2C (direct to customer) sector in India is currently worth USD 44.6 billion (end of FY 2021) and is expected to be worth USD 100 billion by 2025.

Over the past 18 months, over 800 D2C brands have leveraged the power of digital to build their presence and cater to evolving customer preferences. The pandemic has accelerated the uptake for D2C brands, with an almost 88 per cent rise in demand over 2019, it added.