To cater to the growing number of commuters in the inter-city travel sector, e-commerce giant Flipkart has introduced bus services on its platform.
Through collaborations with various state transport corporations and private aggregators, Flipkart will offer customers access to 10 lakh bus connections, spanning more than 25,000 routes across India.
This enhances the current flight and hotel booking services already available on Flipkart Travel.
The platform offers bus bookings without any convenience fee, along with incentives such as discounts up to INR 50 through supercoins redemption and access to a 24/7 voice helpline.
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“The inclusion of bus services in Flipkart’s diverse range of offerings represents a major milestone in our quest to become the go-to destination for all consumer needs, including travel. With Flipkart’s robust presence in tier-II and III markets, this initiative allows us to offer customers a convenient and trustworthy solution for their inter-city travel requirements,” stated Ajay Veer Yadav, Senior Vice President at Flipkart.
“We remain dedicated to providing our customers with value-added services, making their travel experiences easier going forward,” Yadav added.
It’s worth noting that Flipkart faces intense competition from redBus, which has a customer base of approximately 20 million users.
The increase in travel demand has also resulted in a rise in bus travel throughout India.
Last month, a report from redBus indicated that India’s bus industry anticipates a 200% rise in seat bookings due to the construction of additional expressways.
This comes shortly after Flipkart-owned online travel aggregator Cleartrip launched a new product dubbed Out of Office (OOO), signalling its entry into the business travel sector.
OOO is a corporate travel booking tool tailored for small, medium, and large businesses. Cleartrip competes with platforms such as Ixigo, EaseMyTrip, MakeMyTrip, and Ibibo.
It’s worth noting that Flipkart ventured into the travel sector with the introduction of its hotel booking service, Flipkart Hotels, in 2022.
Just a month ago, Flipkart’s marketplace division also received funding of INR 924 crore ($111 million) in two installments from its affiliated entities based in Singapore.
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According to a recent report, Flipkart is expected to enter the quick commerce sector to compete with platforms like Zepto, Zomato’s Blinkit, and Swiggy’s Instamart.
The marketplace division’s operating revenue surged by 42% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 14,845.8 crore, while the loss decreased by 9% YoY to INR 4,026.5 crore in FY23.
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