City-based Flipkart on Tuesday announced the expansion of its supply chain and logistics arm, Ekart, ahead of The Big Billion Days and the upcoming festive season.

Ekart has added 14 million cubic feet of warehousing space nationwide, increasing storage capacity by 50%. Technology and automation enhancements have also increased peak processing capacity by more than 30%, Flipkart said.

According to the company, as customers expect faster deliveries across the country, over 900 additional delivery hubs have been added specifically to expand last-mile reach during the festive season and enable greater volumes of same-day and next-day deliveries. This adds to more than 8,200 Ekart facilities across the country, including fulfilment centres, sortation hubs and last-mile delivery operations, as well as nearly 1,200 Flipkart Minutes micro-fulfilment centres across 150-plus cities, including Bengaluru.

To enable faster fulfilment for MSMEs, small sellers, weavers and artisans during The Big Billion Days, more than 2.5 crore units of their products have been pre-positioned within Ekart fulfilment centres. In addition, 70 pick-up stations have been opened across key seller hubs to reduce seller fulfilment time, the e-tailer said.

Hemant Badri, senior vice-president and Head, Supply Chain, Flipkart Group, said, “This year, a customer in Leh or Kargil will experience Big Billion Days for the first time.”

Flipkart has also created over 2.5 lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities in preparation for the festive season, of which nearly 75,000 are for first-time workforce entrants. Around 60% of the new opportunities are in last-mile delivery.