Flipkart, the Walmart-owned e-commerce giant has entered the health and safety category with the introduction of healthcare products such as hand sanitizers and face masks through one of its in-house private labels SmartBuy under the Health+ range.
The company claims these are medically certified. In the case of the hand sanitizer, it conforms to the standards and formula prescribed by WHO and approved by FDA as well. Flipkart has fixed the prices to fall in line with the cap announced by the government.
Accordingly, you can order the face masks in packs of 15, 20, 30 and 50 at Rs 240, Rs 310, Rs 400 and Rs 575 respectively. The 500ml container of the hand sanitizer is priced at Rs 250 each. If you visit the Flipkart website, these two products will be found within the personal care category.
The masks are called surgical masks with 3-ly meltblown material and is capable of offering 95% protection from germs (in terms of filtration efficiency). These products will be made at the existing facility and no new infrastructure is being created. The e-commerce company feels this is its own way of making life easier for the Indian public at large in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Flipkart’s grocery division has been making deliveries to the customers along with other essential items as identified by the various state governments. Other items are not permitted to be transported across cities or inside towns.
It also partnered with Tata Consumer Products Limited to enable access to essential food and beverage products to Indian consumers. In a first of its kind, innovative distribution solution, Tata Consumer Products’ distributors will list as marketplace sellers on the Flipkart platform. Consumers can use the Flipkart platform to buy different combo packs of essential products such as beverages (Tata Tea and Coffee) and foods (Tata Sampann Spices, Pulses, and Nutri mixes) offered by Tata Consumer Products.
Flipkart's marketplace supply chain will fulfil the orders by picking up these essentials combinations from Tata Consumer Company distributors and delivering them to customers using its extensive network of delivery executives. The partnership is already operational in Bengaluru, and the companies plan to expand these facilities in Mumbai and Delhi in the coming week and Tier 2 towns in the future. The product combinations have been curated keeping in mind specific needs of Indian consumers, while also offering them significant cost benefits.