Flipkart has temporarily shut operations in India after the lockdown announcement. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on March 24, 8 PM and announced the 21-day lockdown. The move is being taken to combat the community spread of the deadly COVID-19.
The Walmart-owned Flipkart is unable to ship items to people because of the suspension of trains, air and other modes of transportation. Interestingly, the Walmart-owned e-commerce giant concluded its Big Shopping Days only two days back. The company is now initiating refunds for its customers.
We navigated to Flipkart.com only to find a message with information about the decision of the company. Moreover, all products are tagged as out of stock.
We infer that the company will resume operations only after the lifting of the 21-day lockdown. If the lockdown extends beyond 21 days, then the company will have to temporarily shut operations again for an extended time. This will largely affect small and medium sellers including the overall revenues.
Flipkart is offering online bill payment facility and video streaming services. You can browse the website or the app to find information pertaining to those services that don’t require the deployment of any delivery person.
Even though e-commerce services are tagged as essential by the Government of India, local authorities have requested closing down of the fulfillment centers. Moreover, tracks carrying goods are being stopped from entering the borders of each state. Hence, Flipkart is unable to deliver products. Moreover, the delivery staff also called as wishmasters are not willing to take the risk by venturing out to deliver the shipments.
According to experts, online delivery staffs are at greater risk since they deliver by visiting various places. Moreover, the companies are not providing any mask or other required items for safety purposes.
