Flipkart to focus investments on e-commerce

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jun 8, 2020

Walmart-owned e-Commerce giant Flipkart plans to focus its future investments on pure-play e-commerce and attracting value consumers as opposed to investing in a variety of services. 

 
“We will primarily be a commerce player… commerce is one place where we want to disproportionately invest,” Flipkart Group’s chief executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy told the Economic Times. “While we have video, gaming and several such propositions, all of those are through partnerships. The DNA of the company is partnerships and this is how we will be going forward.”
 
The business will focus on customers looking to buy bargain items at the lower end of the market. This is a swiftly growing demographic in India’s e-commerce market as increasing numbers of rural shoppers go online. 

Value shopping is also expected to increase due to the financial effects of lockdown on many families. “The way consumers thought about essentials has changed in a very big way and the product mix has moved towards home and kitchen appliances, select electronics, and loungewear,” said Krishnamurthy.
 
Between 50% and 60% of India’s new online shoppers make their first transaction through a video, according to Krishnamurthy. “While we wanted to have video for the customer, we did not want to build this ourselves and therefore we struck partnerships,” he said. 
 
Many of Flipkart’s competitors are focusing on expanding their grocery offerings including Reliance Jio and Amazon. The segment has grown during lockdown as, for a long time, it was the only product category permitted for retail.