Flipkart rejigs policy for sellers; cuts payment processing cycle

E-commerce company Flipkart on Wednesday announced a slew of changes in its policy for sellers, including a reduction in the payment settlement cycle and low return cost for performing sellers.

The company announced travel benefits for sellers in partnership with Cleartrip.

“Our industry-first policy changes and new tech capabilities aim to empower sellers and consumers while promoting India’s e-commerce growth story. We are committed to addressing some of the industry limitations faced by sellers, from payments to onboarding to cataloguing, through our new policies and capabilities,” Jagjeet Harode, Flipkart senior director and head of the marketplace, was quoted as having said in a statement.

Flipkart claims to have over 4 lakh sellers on its platform which serves more than 35 crore customers.

The company claims to have put in place an easy product listing process by introducing an automated solution which converts any product image to Flipkart-standard quality on the go.

Flipkart said that the new payment policy is aimed at easing the liabilities for sellers and freeing up their working capital.

“Flipkart will now process seller payments in 7-10 days from dispatch, making it the fastest and most predictable payment settlement platform,” the statement said.

Earlier the payment settlement cycle was 15 days from the date of dispatch, Harode said.

He said that the company will soon roll out a system to ensure low return costs for performing sellers.

Flipkart said that it is going to guarantee growth for new sellers based on their capability to serve consumers, where a guaranteed return on investments on advertisement spends for the right customer inputs will boost sellers’ visibility and make it easier for them to scale up their businesses.