KATHMANDU: Sastodeal, a leading local e-commerce company in Nepal, and Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace have officially entered into a strategic partnership to initiate cross-border trade opportunities for its lakhs of sellers.

Under the partnership, Sastodeal will host products from Flipkart marketplace sellers operating across the categories of babycare & kids, audio devices, men’s clothing, women's ethnic wear, and sports & fitness, among others, opening Indian products' access to Nepali customers. The partnership will also see Flipkart’s Private Brands’ products being made available in Nepal with a promise of next day delivery, to be fulfilled by Sastodeal, Amun Thapa, the founding CEO of Sastodeal, said.

According to Thapa, in the first phase starting mid-August, Sastodeal will be featuring Flipkart’s Private Brands such as MarQ and SmartBuy among others, assuring best-in-class features and quality at prices the Nepali consumers will love. Previously, the customers had to pay a high difference on Indian Currency price whenever they wanted to purchase products from India. But with this deal, the customers can enjoy the best quality products at a negligible difference from Indian prices. The products will be readily-available at Sastodeal, ensuring that customers receive their orders the same or the very next day.

Commenting on the partnership, Dev Iyer, Vice President - Private Brands, Flipkart, said, “Flipkart’s Private Brands portfolio has always been about addressing consumer needs in the most effective value-driven manner. Given our understanding of what consumers need and focus on quality products; it was a natural step for us to expand this expertise and take our brands to markets beyond India. The preference of consumers in a country like Nepal is very similar to India. We are confident that the adoption of our Private Brands MarQ and SmartBuy will be strong."

"Our partner Sastodeal enjoys immense consumer trust in the Nepal market, which gives us further encouragement that consumers will love what we have to offer under the partnership.”

According to Sastodeal’s CCO, Amitesh Roy, Sastodeal is starting with Flipkart’s Electronics and Home Decor/Furnishing products along with Flipkart cross-border commerce that will enable Indian MSMEs to sell directly to Nepali consumers. Sastodeal, in partnership with Flipkart, will continuously enhance its product range at fair prices, bringing the best value offerings to its customers.

The partnership will offer customers in Nepal 5000+ high-quality products under the cross-border partnership, with a delivery period of around 14 to 21 days, whereas the delivery period for Flipkart Private Brands - MarQ and Flipkart SmartBuy will see the same or next day deliveries with prioritised shipping, fulfilled by Sastodeal.com.

“The partnership with Sastodeal, a homegrown brand like ours, will not just open doors for a wider market reach to our sellers but also allow them to boost their business significantly. E-commerce business in Nepal has huge potential as more and more consumers take to online shopping. The trust a brand like Flipkart has amongst consumers, along with the love of a local company like Sastodeal enjoys; makes the value proposition for consumers even more exciting. We are confident that such new growth avenues will boost the economic sentiment and growth prospects for local MSMEs in India,” said Jagjeet Harode, Head of Marketplace, Flipkart.

The star product from Flipkart on Sastodeal is a MarQ 49" 4K SMART television with latest certified Android and in-built Chrome-cast with 4.4 customer-rating that is listed for just Nrs. 54,999. Customers will get next day delivery along with free installations and a 2-years warranty on MarQ TVs. Along with MarQ, customers can get the best value offers on Flipkart SmartBuy where they can expect great daily home products at a reasonable price. He also added that Sastodeal plans to introduce new sub-categories through Flipkart such as Sports, Fashion, Furniture, Essentials, etc, in the coming days.

Tim Gocher, founding CEO, Dolma Impact Fund; Sastodeal’s single-largest shareholder said -- “This is a natural next step in Sastodeal’s remarkable growth story. It perfectly aligns with their customer-focused mission to offer attractive products and prices to consumers and businesses alike.” Pratik Jalan, Chairman of the Sastodeal board is convinced that this will be a game-changer not just for the e-commerce industry but for the overall ecosystem.