Ahead of the festive season sales, which are expected to bring in revenues of billions of rupees, Flipkart has appointed a new head for its logistics business — Ekart Logistics.
The Bangalore-based company has reportedly appointed Amitesh Jha, who has been with the company since 2010, to head the logistics unit of the company.
Till now, the unit was being led by company’s COO Nitin Seth. However, he was abruptly asked to quit the company a couple of months back. After his exit, the executives of the company were reporting directly to Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy.
As per the person aware of the development, the company also looked at external candidates to fill the position but chose Amitesh Jha to fill the position as he was with the company for a long time and aware of the culture and internal developments. The company stated:
Flipkart looked at external candidates to fill the position but Jha, being an old timer in the company , was chosen to head Ekart last month. In his appointment, timing is very crucial since the sale season is around the corner and logistics is a very important factor to beat rivals like Amazon.
Amitesh Jha, who has been with Flipkart since 2010, had previously worked with the Ekart team. Most recently, he was heading categories like electronics, computers, large appliances and furniture. His was earlier designated as Vice President of Retail at Flipkart.
Filling the crucial role ahead of the festive season sales is important as logistics plays a crucial role in determining the success of the eCommerce firm’s efforts.
Amazon India, which is also battling for the pole position in the Indian eCommerce space, is also gearing up for the sale season ahead of Diwali. Paytm, which recently spun-out its eCommerce division, has also planned to invest significant amount towards improving its logistics business, with introduction of one-day and two-day deliveries.