Nepali eCommerce firm Sastodeal has recently entered into a deal with Flipkart and Myntra to distribute a wide selection of international products in Nepal.
The lakhs of sellers registered on Flipkart can now choose to not only sell products on the Flipkart platform itself but on Sastodeal as well. Following this partnership with the Indian eCommerce giant, Sastodeal is now the exclusive provider for a growing list of over 5000 Flipkart products. These new products are available for purchase on the Sastodeal website under a separate drop-down menu labeled “Flipkart”.
“Although we have started with just 5000 products, we look to gradually increase product offerings with Flipkart and Myntra and also to shorten the delivery time and narrow the price differences,” reports the company in a public Facebook post. “Capable teams on both sides are working hard to make this happen.”
The Bengaluru headquartered platform Flipkart reports that this is the first instance of a partnership like this. The priority will be for Made In India products, as the company will gradually introduce more and more products into the Sastodeal platform as the cross-border trade gets less complicated. Then there will be a primary focus on categories like electronics, home appliances/decor, and furnishings, etc, the primary focus being to provide products generally not accessible in Nepal to its growing eCommerce audience.
Also read: Daraz Partners with Visa: “Online Payments in Nepal Now a Necessary Step”
Fashion Family MYNTRA Joins the Game:
This should be no big news since Flipkart effectively owns MYNTRA. Founded in 2007, this company was acquired by Walmart-backed Flipcart in 2014.
Although Flipkart has a separate section for its fashion products, featuring scores of local as well as international brands like Puma, Fabtag, Adidas, etc., MYNTRA focuses solely on fashion eCommerce. MYNTRA promotes its own family of 17 brands, which include the Indian fashion company Rangriti, Anouk, W for Women, Aurelia, Shree, Fabindia, and much more.
These new fashion products are available for purchase on the Sastodeal website under a separate drop-down menu labeled “MYNTRA.”
What this may mean for Nepali sellers:
While these new products are great news for customers, this may create a lot of competition for Nepali sellers. With over 2 lakh independent MSME(Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) selling on Flipkart and MYNTRA, this will undoubtedly create pressure on Nepalese sellers to distribute products at a lower price by making their trade process simpler and more effective to reduce costs. Right now, the cross-border taxes might make Flipkart and Myntra products a second opinion for online customers. However, in the future, there might be a severe threat to incompetent sellers that don’t make the cut or don’t deliver what they promise.
