Wednesday 30 March 2016

Flipkart hits 75mn milestone; redesigns supply chain to attract small brands

Online marketplace, Flipkart has reportedly amassed 750 million registered customers in India. This is the first ecommerce firm to accomplish the figure in a single country, after the USA and Asian neighbours, China.
  • India has approximately 121 million broadband suscribers
  • Flipkart claims to have registered over 60% of this broadband database
  • Non-metros account for over 50% of Flipkart’s traffic

Specialised logistics network

In January this year, Flipkart forecasted that its large appliance category will grow in leaps and bounds over the next two years. It is currently the third largest category for Flipkart, just behind electronics and apparel. The average ticket price for large appliances is Rs. 25,000 and the category is currently worth $10 billion, so there is plenty to play for, as Flipkart aims to grow its customer base further.

Fast selling large appliances include:

  • Televisions
  • Refrigerators
  • Air conditioners
Most of the time large appliances need post delivery installation and after sales services. Since launching the segment in April 2014, Flipkart later tied up withJeeves Consumer services to facilitate the same.
Apart from the top selling large appliance brands such as Vu, BPL, Sansui and Whirlpool, Flipkart is now on the look out for smaller unknown brands, as it would be able negotiate better prices for the customer, from these products. To attract these smaller brands, Flipkart plans to utilise its analytics to create an improved logistic network.

Flipkart will assist smaller brands with:

  • Distribution
  • Installation
  • Marketing
“We have redesigned and set up a dedicated in-house supply chain that (will handle), installation and customer experience. We import directly from them (brands), help them distribute through our centres, provide installation service and help in brand marketing. Larger brands which earlier refused any ecommerce presence, are now warming up to online retailing and holding conversations to sell on the platform,” said Amit Bansal, Head of the large appliances business, Flipkart.

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