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Tag: flipkart

  • Online Marketplaces India: Delivering fashion to the discerning masses

    Online Marketplaces India: Delivering fashion to the discerning masses

    The online fashion space in India is positively buzzing with private labels or brand partnerships. Recently, heritage American denim brand, Wrangler collaborated with Indian e-commerce giant, Flipkart to launch an exclusive sub-brand called Wrangler 20X. Myntra also launched its in-house plus size apparel brand, Sztori as well as House of Pataudi, an ethnic wear brand co-owned by Myntra, Exceed Entertainment and Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan.

    Addressing Consumer Demand

    Wrangler 20X is targeted at the digitally-savvy youth who increasingly shop for fashion online and are seeking the perfect mix of trend and value. Gen Z are increasingly brand-aware and aspire to own brands with flaunt appeal. The denim brand aims to give them a brand that they would be proud to wear at prices they can afford.

    Known for democratising fashion across segments, the launch of both Sztori and House of Pataudi enables Myntra to go a step further and include profiles into the ambit of ‘fashion for all’. It champions inclusivity in fashion, evaluating and emphasising greater attention to styles, trends, designs, fit and fabric for plus sized apparel and fashion conscious consumers, in order to bring out the personality of the person wearing it.

    Sztori has been especially designed to suit a larger range of body shapes and sizes. It is essentially a designer wear in the plus size category, offering consumers the perfect fit and multiple style options. The apparel is made to suit plus size body types rather than prove to be a mere extension in size on existing profiles, thus breaking the existing age-old norm in the Indian market.

    Manohar Kamath, CXO and Head, Myntra Fashion Brands, says, “We are extremely delighted to announce the addition of Sztori to our portfolio of private brands. Plus size clothing is in great demand and it was time we offered something substantial in the category, opening up more avenues and possibilities for our customers.”

    The brand offers a range of products for men and women, including, tees, denims, tops, dresses and more in L to XXXXL (Large to 4 times Large) sizes. Shoppers can choose from over 225 styles and designs at prices ranging from Rs 799-Rs 1,999.

    Myntra identified a space opportunity in this segment and set out to design and develop merchandise under a new brand to cater to the category and make wearers look fashionable with multiple style options at affordable prices and opening new avenues in the industry.

    ‘House of Pataudi’ is a lifestyle brand for men and women that delivers fine taste and refinement to the discerning and the fashion conscious. Each piece not only exudes style but also narrates the rich story and history of the Pataudi heritage. The collection comprises traditional Indian wear, conceptualised inthe form of Rozana, every day wear with a contemporary ethnic touch; Jashn, festive finery with a regal charm; Riwayat, bespoke splendour for the classic Indian wedding; and a Special Edition, comprising collections inspired by the Pataudi trousseau.

    The range includes kurtas, sherwanis and Nehru jackets for men and kurta sets, lehengas and dresses for women. Products from House of Pataudi will be available exclusively on Myntra and Jabong, across a price range of Rs 1,500-Rs 15,000 for men and Rs ,000-Rs 20,000 for women. The brand’s design team has worked closely with Saif Ali Khan; inspired by his own personal style statement and has designed and perfected the line, modelling it on the Pataudi lineage and contemporary fashion preferences, to make it relatable for the modern fashion shopper. House of Pataudi is focused on changing the perception about ethnic dressing being limited only to festivals and occasions and bringing it back to everyday wear.

    Tapping the Market

    “Research estimates that the plus size segment will account for US$ 5 to 6 billion in the US$40 billion Indian online fashion apparel market, by 2020, which is approximately 10 to 12 percent of the overall market, making it an important proposition,” shares Manohar Kamath.

    Flipkart’s has aggressive plans to grow the fashion business and this maps well with Wrangler’s vision of meeting the needs of the young, online shopper. “We are delighted to partner with

    Flipkart on the launch of Wrangler 20X. The brand will be available exclusively on Flipkart and is designed for young, trend-aware digital citizens who aspire to buy Wrangler but are also looking for a more affordable value proposition. We look forward to working with Flipkart to make this a successful sub-brand of Wrangler,” comments Krishna Dorai, General Manager, Wrangler.

    Rishi Vasudev, Vice President, Flipkart Fashion says, “Men’s fashion is one of our fastest growing categories, where we have witnessed a 75 percent Y-o-Y growth, within which denims is one of the most successful categories. Crafted basis an understanding of what fashion shoppers are looking for, we are excited to launch Wrangler 20X, a denim-wear brand, from the house of Wrangler, exclusively on Flipkart Fashion. The range is specifically designed to off er the latest in fashion to the style conscious young men looking for the best in the value branded segment and we are sure, this range will be a massive hit, while it strengthens our men’s portfolio.”

    The Wrangler 20X collection features attractive style elements such as PU detailing on the pockets and belt loops, the shirts embrace printed designs with yarn-dyed fabrics and the tees receive a fresh colourful graphic spin. The sub-brand is currently available only for men.

    Ananth Narayanan, Ex-CEO, Myntra- Jabong, said, “We are clearly focused on a strong customer proposition and currently there is a huge gap in brand offerings in the ethnic wear space, especially for men. House of Pataudi is an ideal fit, being rich on tradition, heritage, design, and offers customers a slice of the world that we believe is lost, at price points that are highly affordable.”

  • Grofers eyes $2.5 billion in revenue by 2020

    Grofers eyes $2.5 billion in revenue by 2020

    SoftBank-backed Grofers aims to garner $2.5 billion (approximately Rs 17,500 crore) in revenue by 2020 as it scales up its private label offerings in the country and focusses on expanding repeat purchases in its platform. The company, which has recently completed five years of its operations, has a revenue run rate of $360 million (about Rs 2,500 crore) currently.

    Grofers Co-Founder and CEO Albinder Dhindsa said Grofers has been witnessing over 30 percent month-on-month growth.

    “While we do not sell gourmet products that usually offer higher margins, we have been able to create a set of dedicated customers that usually promote our brand as well… We will continue to ramp up our business and we aim to clock $2.5 billion revenue by 2020,” he said.

    Outlining the expansion strategy, Dhindsa said about 40 percent of the selection on its platform now comprises of private label products.

    “There are a number of local manufacturers, who have great products but can’t compete with the FMCG giants and therefore, their products often don’t find shelf space in retail stores…we continue to grow the number of manufacturers that we work with,” he said.

    He further explained that putting these private labels on its own platform has helped the company provide aspirational products like muesli, peanut butter at more affordable prices.

    These private labelled products are also making their way on retail shelves at Grofers’ over 1,500 partner stores, which the company aims to ramp up to one million in the next two years.

    Asked about competition, especially with Walmart-backed Flipkart and Amazon expanding their presence aggressively in the online grocery segment, Dhindsa said the company is not worried.

    “Grocery is not the same as books and electronics. We may carry a smaller selection but the focus for us is on affordability. Consumers are very conscious when it comes to the grocery buying and that is what we want to ensure for our customers,” he said adding that Grofers is focussing on further enhancing its coverage of the cities it operates in.

    In March 2018, Grofers had announced raising Rs 400 crore in funding led by SoftBank, Tiger Global and Apoletto Asia. It has raised funding of $226.5 million till now. Its average daily order volumes were over 35,000 per day in June this year.

    Grocery segment accounts for a significant portion of the unorganised retail segment in the country. With people becoming comfortable buying even milk and bread online, the online grocery segment is projected to witness a strong growth over the next few years in India.

    As per the estimates, e-tail is just 0.5 percent of the total grocery market in India, which is pegged at $400 billion or 70 percent of all retail.

    In a recent interview, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy had said grocery is one of the key focus areas for the company currently and, the segment will play an important role in getting access to the next 200 million customers.

    Amazon India, too, has been aggressively ramping up selection and focussing on speedier delivery to consolidate its position in the segment. In February this year, Grofers’ competitor Bigbasket had raised USD 300 million led by Chinese e-tailer giant Alibaba and others.

  • 2.5 million buyers shop during Myntra, Jabong special sale

    2.5 million buyers shop during Myntra, Jabong special sale

    About 2.5 million shoppers ordered eight million products during four days of Myntra and Jabong’s special sale from December 22 to 25, a company statement said on Wednesday. “The ninth edition of End of Reason Sale concluded with Myntra and Jabong recording a massive surge in sale and traffic,” city-based Flipkart-owned Myntra said in a statement here. As a result of the sale, the fashion portals saw a 700 per cent surge in sales and 120 per cent increase in online traffic over normal business days, it added.

    American retail giant Walmart-owned leading e-commerce player Flipkart Group includes online fashion portals Myntra and Jabong.

    The Flipkart arms, however, did not disclose the combined value of goods sold in those four days.

    “Sports goods were the highest selling category with a total of eight lakh pairs of shoes sold across the country during the sale,” the statement added.

    The shopping carnival also saw 7.2 lakh new customers ordering through the portals.

    The two portals together sold 1,200 products per minute during the four-day sale.

  • New E-Comm Rules: Flipkart India for broad market-driven framework

    New E-Comm Rules: Flipkart India for broad market-driven framework

    India’s largest online marketplace Flipkart has requested New Delhi that a broad, market-driven framework for the e-commerce industry be put in place after consultations with the relevant stakeholders. The request came a day after the federal government announced changes in the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy for the sector. On Wednesday, New Delhi took a series of measures to tighten the norms for e-commerce companies, such as Flipkart and Amazon, barring them from selling products of the entities in which they have a stake. The altered norms also restrict them from mandating any seller to sell products exclusively on their respective platforms.

    Flipkart said that the e-commerce ecosystem has created thousands of jobs apart from fostering innovations in MSME manufacturing, supply chain, warehousing, packaging, and digital payments.

    “Government policy changes will have long-term implications for the evolution of the promising sector and the whole ecosystem. It is important that a broad, market-driven framework through the right consultative process be put in place in order to drive the industry forward,” the Bengaluru-based online retail giant said in a statement.

    Flipkart was acquired by the US retail giant Walmart for $16 billion earlier this year in what was the country’s largest acquisition and the world’s biggest purchase of an ecommerce company.

    Amazon’s India unit said that the company was still evaluating the policy changes. The new policy aims to restrict any kind of control on inventory by an e-commerce marketplace entity, thus impacting Flipkart and Amazon as they have structured their group companies in a way that would help retain control on pricing and inventory.

    “For Amazon and Flipkart, this policy change brings massive challenges. They have to not only make changes into the business model and structure of how they are selling goods, but this will also affect the profitability due to limitations on private label products,” said Satish Meena, senior forecast analyst at Forrester Research.

    “Apart from this, the planned investment in the offline channel is going to be recalibrated after this change. All these will have an impact on how they scale up the business in India,” Meena added.

  • Google launches ‘Shopping’ in India to woo online shoppers

    Google launches ‘Shopping’ in India to woo online shoppers

    Tech giant Google Thursday unveiled ‘Google Shopping’ in India that will allow users to easily filter through offers, review prices from multiple retailers and find products that they are looking for. According to a report: The personalised experience will be available across various Google products — a Shopping home page, Shopping tab on Google Search and through Google Lens. Customers will be able to see trending products across different categories, various deals, and compare prices using the new offering.

    For retailers, the company will offer its ‘Merchant Center’ in Hindi, which will allow the sellers to list their products for Google Shopping, without paying for ad campaigns.

    “India has over 400 million internet users. However, only one-third of these have shopped online and that number includes those buying railway tickets online. From seasoned desktop shoppers to first-time users with entry-level smartphones, we hope this new shopping experience will make finding what people are looking for just a little bit easier,” Surojit Chatterjee, Vice President – Product Management, Google said.

    Google Shopping will be a connector between retailers and consumers, and the transaction and delivery of products will be handled by the merchant, he added.

    “There are an estimated 58 million small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India, of which 35 per cent are engaged in retail trade. However, a very small number of them have an online presence, this is a huge opportunity for retailers to surface their merchandise to the millions of online consumers,” Chatterjee said.

    Google aims to support the entire retail ecosystem — from shopping sites and large retailers to small local shops — by giving them access to the tools, technology, and scale to thrive in the new digital economy, he added.

    Chatterjee said merchants will not have to pay any fee for listing their products for Google Shopping.

    Under the Shopping tab in Google Search, users can search for products and see prices from across multiple retailers. The ‘Style Search’ option in Google Lens will allow users to find products such as clothes, furniture, and home decor, by simply pointing the Lens app from their smartphones.

  • After Flipkart, Walmart eyes another Indian startup that specialises in AI

    After Flipkart, Walmart eyes another Indian startup that specialises in AI

    Walmart Labs India, the local product development division of US retail giant Walmart, last week announced it would hire key tech team from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics start-up Int.ai — its second acqui-hiring in the country within three months.

    Three engineers — including co-founders Vinay Kumar NP and Praneeth Doguparthy — from Int.ai will join Walmart Labs India.

    They will be part of the health and wellness portfolio under Customer Technology at Walmart Labs, the company said in a statement.

    “We are glad to welcome the Int.ai team to the big Walmart Labs family and believe that their expertise will be a great addition to our data analytics capabilities,” said Hari Vasudev, Country Head and Vice President – Technology, Walmart Labs India.

    This is the second acqui-hiring Walmart Labs India has made — after micro-app startup Appsfly in September where it merged Appsfly’s six-member team into its customer experience engineering group.

    Founded in 2016, Int.ai has invested and built expertise in architecting an analytics automation framework which will support Walmart Labs in developing solutions and supporting large-scale businesses.

    “After working for almost 3 years on it, we are very happy to let you know that our entire team will be joining Walmart Labs, India,” Vinay and Praneeth said in a separate statement.

    “We started Int.ai in the beginning of 2016 with an ambitious mission to build an AI-powered personal data analyst for every business executive,” they added.

    Int.ai developed expertise in blending Machine Learning with data analytics to uncover insights that significantly impact business metrics.

  • ShoppRe online portal targets Indians living abroad

    ShoppRe online portal targets Indians living abroad

    International shipping and consolidation company ShoppRe.com is setting up in Dubai with a series of marketing campaigns. The shopping portal optimises cross-border e-commerce from India, acting as a bridge between people living abroad and Indian shopping sites such as Flipkart and Myntra.

    According to the site’s founders, most Indian sellers do not offer international shipping and several Indian websites do not accept international card payments.

    ShoppRe’s brand ambassadors, actress Priyamani and her husband Mustufa Raj, kick-started the official launch in Dubai by releasing the new ad campaign.

    “I can totally relate to people who have just shifted abroad and badly miss shopping from India. ShoppRe makes it possible to have your favorite Indian goods delivered right to your doorsteps,” said Priyamani.

    The firm’s major investor V A Hassan said: “I have been in Dubai for more than four decades. I have seen the huge demand for Indian products like fashion, food, etc, which are popular everywhere, but not easily accessible or are extremely overpriced”.

    ShoppRe was founded in October 2016 and has fulfilled orders worth INR 40 million (US$565,200) for more than 15,000 customers, including both Indian and non-Indian consumers. It has shipped products to more than 80 countries.

  • Amazon in advance stage to buy stake in Future Retail

    Amazon in advance stage to buy stake in Future Retail

    Online retailer Amazon is in advanced stage of talks to buy around 9.5 percent stake in Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail, according to sources. According to a report: A final shape to an agreement between the two parties is expected to take place within the next 10 days, the sources said although in case of last minute hurdles the deal could be announced as late as January 2019.

    When contacted, Amazon declined to comment while messages sent to Future Group Founder and Group CEO Kishore Biyani remained unanswered by the time of filing story.

    According to a media report, the Amazon-Future Group deal is initially estimated to be around Rs 2,000 crore executed under foreign portfolio investor (FPI).

    The agreement could also include Amazon buying out Biyani and promoter group’s entire holding in future subject to applicable regulations in India.

    As of September 2018, promoter and promoter group had 46.51 percent share of Future Retail Ltd, which operates hypermarket and supermarket under brands which include- Big Bazaar, Easyday, Foodhall, HyperCity, FBB, Heritage fresh, ezone and WH Smith.

    It has presence in 250 cities across the country.

    Leading e-commerce major Amazon, which is looking to expand its presence in India, already has stake in Shoppers Stop and More.

    If the deal is through, this would be the third investment by the US-based company in the Indian brick-and-mortar retail ecosystem.

    Last year, retail major Shoppers Stop had announced raising Rs 179.26 crore from Amazon through an issue of equity shares on preferential basis. The deal with Amazon.com Investment Holdings LLC translated into just over 5 per cent shareholding for Amazon in Shoppers Stop.

    In September this year, Amazon said it has co-invested in Witzig Advisory Services, the entity that is acquiring Aditya Birla Retail’s ‘more’ chain of stores in India.

    According to market watchers, this deal is expected to help Amazon strengthen its play in the Indian retail market that is still dominated by offline retailers.

    The move would also intensify competition further between Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart that are locked in an intense battle for leadership in the Indian e-commerce market.

    The US’ largest retailer Walmart had picked up 77 percent stake in Flipkart for US$ 16 billion, the largest deal in the Indian e-commerce space so far.

    Both Amazon and Flipkart are pumping in millions of dollars towards building infrastructure, and expanding operations in the country.

  • Snapdeal trims losses for FY18, exudes confidence on hitting profits

    Snapdeal trims losses for FY18, exudes confidence on hitting profits

    E-commerce firm Snapdeal has narrowed its consolidated losses substantially to Rs 613 crore for FY2017-18, as per regulatory documents. According to a report: The company, which competes with larger rivals like Amazon and Flipkart, had posted a consolidated loss of Rs 4,647.1 crore in FY2016-17, documents filed with the Corporate Affairs Ministry showed.

    The consolidated revenue from operations declined to Rs 436.1 crore for 2017-18 as against Rs 903.8 crore in the previous financial year.

    On standalone basis too, Snapdeal trimmed its losses to Rs 440.7 crore in 2017-18 from Rs 4,638.9 crore in the year-ago period. Total revenue was at Rs 514.6 crore in FY18 as against Rs 1,105.7 crore in the previous fiscal.

    Snapdeal, in its filing said, the company had embarked on its journey towards profitability last year.

    “This year, we continued on this path and focused on building a leaner and more capital efficient business. We substantially reduced our costs, both variable and fixed overheads,” it added.

    The company said it reduced its business promotion expense by 88 percent year-on-year, whereas fulfilment expenses were lower by 67 percent y-o-y.

    “We optimised the team structure and leveraged technology more efficiently, which was critical in trimming our employee expenses by 68 per cent y-o-y. While all of this has come at the expense of lower top line, your company is extremely proud of its achievements over the year and is absolutely confident that it is heading in the right direction to achieve profitability,” it said.

    When contacted, a Snapdeal spokesperson said, “Our prime focus last year was to maximize the operating efficiency of the marketplace ahead of implementing our planned growth initiatives. We are extremely pleased to see the incredible results from our disciplined execution with losses reducing by 88 percent”.

    In addition, parts of the revenue, which were disproportionately loss-making, were identified and curtailed during the year in order to realign the business for growth with healthy margins, the spokesperson added.

    Snapdeal, which had seen its business being impacted severely by the intense competition in the e-commerce segment, had last year dumped the US$ 950-million takeover offer from rival, Flipkart.

    It was then that Snapdeal Co-founders, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal had said the company will pursue a fresh strategy in the Indian market.

  • Flipkart, Amazon see bumper in India festive sale

    Flipkart, Amazon see bumper in India festive sale

    With festive sales drawing to a close, e-tailing giants Amazon and Flipkart have claimed bumper sale on their platforms, and that they were ahead of the competition, as they received orders from customers from over 99 percent of the pin codes in the country.

    According to a report: Citing a survey by Kantar IMRB and other reports, Amazon India Senior Vice President and Country Head Amit Agarwal said Amazon emerged as “the most visited and transacted shopping destination in India this festive season” (October 10-15, October 24-28 and November 2-5).

    “With 99.3 percent of pin codes placing at least one order, 89 percent of new customers coming from smaller towns, almost 70,000 small and medium businesses getting at least one order and new Prime memberships growing by nearly 2X, we are humbled that India trusts us to find, discover and buy anything online,” he said in a release.

    Asked about another report stating that Flipkart cornering 51 percent share of the festive sale between October 9-14, Agarwal said, “we don’t comment on reports that are based on non-scientific methodologies”.

    The said industry report had stated that Amazon.in had a 32 per share in the first leg of the festive sale before Dusshera.

    Both Walmart-backed Flipkart and Amazon have claimed record-breaking sales numbers across categories like smartphones, large appliances and fashion during their festive sales.

    “The current sale (November 1-5) is already more than 2X of our Big Billion Days sale this year. We were the clear leaders in the fashion category… we had all brands (of smartphones) except one…competition is no where close to that,” Smrithi Ravichandran, Head of Growth, Flipkart said.

    She added that customers on an average spent Rs 7,500 on various purchases during this festive sale and that its gross merchandise value (GMV) was up 90 percent over last year.

  • Flipkart corners more than 50 pc share in India festive sale: RedSeer Consulting

    Flipkart corners more than 50 pc share in India festive sale: RedSeer Consulting

    Increased buying in smartphones and fashion verticals helped Walmart-backed Flipkart corner over 50 percent share during the first leg of the festive sale, according to research firm RedSeer Consulting. As per RedSeer’s latest report, Flipkart had a 51 percent share, while Amazon India had 32 percent share of the festive sale from October 9-14.

    “Flipkart accounted for more than half of GMV for the entire industry. Between Flipkart and Amazon, the share was 62-38. Higher share for Flipkart was driven by higher sales in both mobiles and fashion verticals,” RedSeer said.

    An Amazon spokesperson termed the report as ‘speculative’ that ‘lack robust and credible methodology’.

    “We received an overwhelming response to the Great Indian festival, with first 36 hours nearly surpassing the entire first wave last year and the entire wave growing by 96 percent versus last year…the festive season so far has exceeded our most aggressive plans,” the spokesperson said.

    Other players like Snapdeal, Paytm Mall and ShopClues also ran their festive offers and accounted for 17 percent share of the sales.

    Flipkart in a statement said the company “pushed the boundaries on many fronts and hit some of our biggest-ever numbers during its Big Billion Days (BBD).

    “We maintained a clear leadership in deep-penetrated and high ASP categories,” it added.

    As per the RedSeer report, the fashion and smartphone verticals grew by 78 percent and 70 percent, respectively.

    However, consumer electronics grew by only 45 percent despite large investments by both players in supply chain and affordability initiatives like debit card EMIs, it added.

    RedSeer said its report is based on interview with experts from supply chain, banking ecosystem and brands, seller views, customer surveys and other research.

    The report said Day 2 of the five-day sale was the biggest in terms of gross merchandise value (GMV) as it saw the launch of multiple new exclusives in mobile phones and offers on other platforms as well.

    Post second day, the growth of GMV stalled a bit with last three days accounting for only 42 percent of sales compared to 60 percent in the first two days, it added.

  • Amazon, Flipkart clock Rs 15,000 crore in just 5 days of festive sale

    Amazon, Flipkart clock Rs 15,000 crore in just 5 days of festive sale

    E-commerce companies in the country are estimated to have raked in sales worth Rs 15,000 crore in about five days of their festive sales with giants like Amazon India and Flipkart claiming stellar show across categories like smartphones, large appliances and fashion.

    RedSeer Consulting in its report said e-tailers had a better “sales performance over the five festive days from October 9-14”, generating about Rs 15,000 crore (around US$ 2 billion) in sales. This translates into about 64 per cent year-on-year growth compared to US$ 1.4 billion (around Rs 10,325 crore) generated in the 2017 edition.

    “The industry witnessed a higher growth this time compared to the last year. This was driven by multiple drivers, key being a larger shopper base from tier II (and beyond) cities. Affordability and loyalty schemes introduced by e-tailing players also played a huge role in converting the visitors into shoppers,” RedSeer said.

    Amazon India Senior Vice President and Country Head Amit Agarwal said their ‘Great Indian Festival’ sale in the first 36 hours alone nearly surpassed the numbers it registered during the same period last year.

    “The event exceeded our most aggressive plans across all the categories…more than 80 per cent of the new customers came from small towns, and we received orders from 99 percent of the serviceable pin-codes in the country in just four days,” he further said.

    He added that smartphone sales accounted for the largest portion in terms of value, while fashion was the biggest in terms of the units shipped.

    “Fashion was also the biggest category in terms of acquiring new customers with 63 percent orders coming from Tier II and III cities… We also saw 2 out of 3 customers using schemes like exchange, EMIs and bank offers,” he said.

    Interestingly, Amazon’s Hindi Website, which was launched recently, saw 2.4 times new customers coming and shopping on the platform as compared to a non-sales day.

    Arch rival Flipkart said its latest edition of the Big Billion Days sale has “smashed all the existing records to set new benchmarks for the entire Indian retail industry”.

    “Flipkart has recorded over 70 percent share of entire Indian e-commerce market in the 5 day-BBD’18 sale, matching scale with global marquee retail events…Gross merchandise value (GMV) grew 80 percent over the last year, whereas units grew by close to 2X year-on-year,” a Flipkart spokesperson said.

    Walmart-backed Flipkart claimed to be cornered 85 percent share in online fashion market and 75 percent share in large appliances category during the sale, while three-in-four smartphones bought between October 10-15 in India were on Flipkart.

    The spokesperson said there was almost 50 percent growth in number of new customers coming in, while one out of two shoppers used payment schemes like EMIs and bank offers.

    Flipkart pointed out that it saw close to 25 million people visiting its app on one of the sale days. This is the first mega shopping event being organised by Flipkart after Walmart acquired 77 percent stake in the company in a US$ 16 billion deal earlier this year.

    Paytm Mall, which is backed by investors like Alibaba and SoftBank, said over 12 million items were sold on its platform, led by categories like mobile phones, consumer electronics, fashion and groceries.

    It added that it had registered five times increase in transactions and sales compared to regular days with over 60 million visitors coming to the platform during the week-long sale. Also, over 2 lakh shopkeepers participated in the sale. ShopClues, which crossed the 1.5 million-order mark, said over 75 percent of its orders came in from tier III and IV towns, especially, from states like Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Gujarat, and Punjab.

    For Snapdeal, new buyers account for about 38 percent of all the orders placed during the sale so far. Paytm Mall kicked off its festive sale from October 9, while the others began a day later. While the first leg of the sale ended on these platforms on Sunday and Monday, more offers are expected to be rolled out as Diwali approaches.

  • Flipkart arm to invest Rs 991 cr for logistics hub in Bengal

    Flipkart arm to invest Rs 991 cr for logistics hub in Bengal

    Instakart Services, a part of the online e-commerce major Flipkart, is set to invest Rs 991 crore for setting up a logistics hub in West Bengal, a Minister said on Wednesday.

    “The company proposes to invest Rs 991 crore for setting up a logistic park at our Haringhata Industrial park which has road network advantage and is near the airport. According to the detailed project report, it will provide 18,310 jobs,” Finance, Commerce and Industries Minister Amit Mitra said.

    West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), in its board meet on Wednesday approved in principle the company’s proposal, which will now go to the Cabinet standing committee for its nod, he said.

    The state government has about 358 acres of land at an industrial park, of which the company will be provided around 100 acres at Rs 63.49 lakh per acre, Mitra said adding that it will act an as anchor investor in the park.

  • E-commerce majors see strong growth in apparel, large appliances as festive sale kicks off

    E-commerce majors see strong growth in apparel, large appliances as festive sale kicks off

    E-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon India have seen a strong start to their festive sale with categories like apparel and large appliances driving record transactions and new customers coming on board.

    According to a PTI report: These companies have put in months of preparation in ramping up selection, setting up warehouses and strengthening delivery network ahead of the festive sale to ensure a smooth shopping experience for customers, with demand being much higher than on non-festive days.

    Players like Flipkart, Amazon India and Paytm Mall kick-started their festive sale from October 10 that will continue for the next 5-6 days. More offers are expected to be rolled out over the next many days leading up to Diwali.

    “The scale of Big Billion Days (festive sale of Flipkart) has only grown with each passing year and this year too, we expect the trend to continue. While each category sees manifold growth, we expect smartphones, large appliances and apparel to be phenomenally big categories,” Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart said.

    He, however, declined to comment on the volume of business expected to be generated, saying “its early to speculate as the growth always end up surprising us”.

    Amit Agarwal, Senior Vice President and Country Head at Amazon India, said the first day of the Great Indian Festival 2018 has been the biggest day ever with record-breaking sales across categories.

    “We are off to a great start and have seen phenomenal numbers during early access and first day that is still on. Three out of four phones sold in the country were on our platform. We saw record sales in large appliances category like TVs, washing machines and refrigerators,” he said, adding that there has been 2.7X growth in number of new customers shopping on Amazon.in compared to previous year’s Diwali.

    Agarwal said Xiaomi, on its platform, sold more than a million devices in a day, while OnePlus has seen record bookings worth Rs 400 crore.

    “More customers bought fashion products than any other, as Amazon fashion saw its biggest day ever more than doubling its growth over last year,” he further said.

    About 20 million people are expected to shop on various e-commerce platforms during the festive sale, translating into sales of around US$ 3 billion for players like Amazon and Flipkart, according to a report by research firm RedSeer.

    The report states that the share of items like electronics and furniture during the sale could be higher this year due to various affordability initiatives being undertaken by the e-commerce players. Mobile phones currently account for a lion’s share of sales on the two leading e-commerce platforms.

  • Walmart India eyes 10 pc revenue from private labels, 30 stores by 2019

    Walmart India eyes 10 pc revenue from private labels, 30 stores by 2019

    Walmart India, which runs 22 Best Price wholesale stores, is planning to increase the share of its private labels to topline to 10 percent by next year as it plans to tap the Flipkart platform.

    According to a report: The company opened its 22nd store in Ludhiana late last month, which is the sixth in the state, where it began with and the second in the Punjab city.

    The company will have 30 stores by the time it completes a decade of its second coming next year.

    Globally, the retail major which is bigger than Boeing, Coca-Cola, Facebook, and the Google parent Alphabet in total sales–nets around 20 percent of its topline from private labels, which are low-priced but high margin items while from a volume perspective it is around 25 percent, which it has already achieved in the country as well.

    Walmart India closed fiscal 2017 with a topline of Rs 3,609 crore, up around 14 percent, according to government filing.

    The numbers for FY18 is not available for Walmart.

    “Currently, our revenue from private labels is 6-7 per cent from our two brands–Right Buy and Member’s Mark, wherein the first is the cheaper than the other. We hope to take this to 10 per cent by 2019, when we close our first decade,” Krish Iyer, Chief Executive, Walmart India said.

    Internationally, its private labels are a US$ 60 billion business for them under the name of Sams Club, while its total volume is over US$ 500 billion.

    India is the only market where Walmart is only into wholesale.

    Iyer, also said he expects an uptick in private label sales going forward as the company is planning to cross-sell these brands on Flipkart, its online marketplace subsidiary here.

    In the biggest M&A deal, the world’s largest retailed Walmart had bought 77 percent of the homegrown online marketplace Flipkart for over US$ 16 billion in August.

    It can be noted that FDI norms allow only 51 percent in multi-brand retail, whereas in cash & carry 100 percent is permitted.

    Flipkart also has developed private brands like Billion though not exactly in the grocery segment.

    “What can be done is while we can’t sell on Flipkart, our manufactures can do and vice versa, which can be beneficial for both,” Iyer said.

    But he was quick to add that both are independent companies with independent boards and the process can take time.

    “Nothing will happen immediately at least over the next quarter or so. But we do see tremendous scope for synergies as Flipkart is very good at their logistics, deliveries, customer relationship management, artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics, among others. We too have similar strengths, which can be combined,” he said.

    The company made a reentry in 2009 after exiting its failed jv with Bharati Enterprises, on its own and opened the first wholesale store in Amritsar. The new 56,000 sq.ft. store in Ludhiana is the sixth in the state and the first one since August 2015 in Agra.

    The company has announced plans to open 50 stores by 2025. When asked where it would be by the turn of the first decade (next year), Iyer said, adding they would have 30 stores by December 2019. We will also two fulfilment centres by then, and the next one is coming up in Vishakapattanam by December 2019.

    He said the company has created over 1 million customers since 2009, and each store typically generates around 2,000 jobs of which around 250 are direct jobs.
    Walmart eyes 10 pc revenue from private labels, 30 stores by 2019

    Walmart India, which runs 22 Best Price wholesale stores, is planning to increase the share of its private labels to topline to 10 percent by next year as it plans to tap the Flipkart platform.

    According to a report: The company opened its 22nd store in Ludhiana late last month, which is the sixth in the state, where it began with and the second in the Punjab city.

    The company will have 30 stores by the time it completes a decade of its second coming next year.

    Globally, the retail major which is bigger than Boeing, Coca-Cola, Facebook, and the Google parent Alphabet in total sales–nets around 20 percent of its topline from private labels, which are low-priced but high margin items while from a volume perspective it is around 25 percent, which it has already achieved in the country as well.

    Walmart India closed fiscal 2017 with a topline of Rs 3,609 crore, up around 14 percent, according to government filing.

    The numbers for FY18 is not available for Walmart.

    “Currently, our revenue from private labels is 6-7 per cent from our two brands–Right Buy and Member’s Mark, wherein the first is the cheaper than the other. We hope to take this to 10 per cent by 2019, when we close our first decade,” Krish Iyer, Chief Executive, Walmart India said.

    Internationally, its private labels are a US$ 60 billion business for them under the name of Sams Club, while its total volume is over US$ 500 billion.

    India is the only market where Walmart is only into wholesale.

    Iyer, also said he expects an uptick in private label sales going forward as the company is planning to cross-sell these brands on Flipkart, its online marketplace subsidiary here.

    In the biggest M&A deal, the world’s largest retailed Walmart had bought 77 percent of the homegrown online marketplace Flipkart for over US$ 16 billion in August.

    It can be noted that FDI norms allow only 51 percent in multi-brand retail, whereas in cash & carry 100 percent is permitted.

    Flipkart also has developed private brands like Billion though not exactly in the grocery segment.

    “What can be done is while we can’t sell on Flipkart, our manufactures can do and vice versa, which can be beneficial for both,” Iyer said.

    But he was quick to add that both are independent companies with independent boards and the process can take time.

    “Nothing will happen immediately at least over the next quarter or so. But we do see tremendous scope for synergies as Flipkart is very good at their logistics, deliveries, customer relationship management, artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics, among others. We too have similar strengths, which can be combined,” he said.

    The company made a reentry in 2009 after exiting its failed jv with Bharati Enterprises, on its own and opened the first wholesale store in Amritsar. The new 56,000 sq.ft. store in Ludhiana is the sixth in the state and the first one since August 2015 in Agra.

    The company has announced plans to open 50 stores by 2025. When asked where it would be by the turn of the first decade (next year), Iyer said, adding they would have 30 stores by December 2019. We will also two fulfilment centres by then, and the next one is coming up in Vishakapattanam by December 2019.

    He said the company has created over 1 million customers since 2009, and each store typically generates around 2,000 jobs of which around 250 are direct jobs.