3 Lessons From India’s Ecommerce Giant, FlipKart.
Rob Prentice
You might be surprised to learn that Amazon is not the biggest online retailer in India… It’s Flipkart.
With 31.9% of the GMV market in the country that puts them just ahead of Amazon India.
BUT In India, only 8% of total retail is done online. When you compare that with the 16% done online in the United States, it’s no wonder the competition between the two retailers is so fierce.
Here are 3 things Flipkart is doing to stay ahead.
1. They are making key acquisitions.
Have you ever thought about buying a competitor to increase your market share?
Flipkart has continued to do this over and over again in key verticals for them. For example, in fashion, a spot where Amazon arguably lags, they purchased Jabong for $70m in 2016. For context, only 3 years prior Jabong was worth more than $500m.
2. They offer a subscription model.
You’ve heard of Amazon Prime but have you heard of Flipkart Plus? After Walmart invested $16B in 2018 they also helped them launch a streaming service and other premium features for their ‘Plus’ user base in 2019.
The idea of bundling products together is not new. Professor Galloway coined the term ‘rundles’ to define companies offering a recurring revenue bundle for their services and products.
Is there an underlying subscription business that you can roll out to existing customers?
3. They are co-operating with regulators.
In India, it’s illegal for e-tailers to source more than 25% of products from a single vendor or from selling any products offered by brands they own.
This obviously caused a huge problem for Amazon and gave Flipkart the chance to inch forward.
Are there industries where regulation can create an opportunity for your business?
