Priyanka Sahay Moneycontrol News
With an aim to acquire its next set of 100 million customers, who will mostly come from smaller cities, online retailer Flipkart is now focusing on low-priced items such as unbranded fashion and recharges, besides affordable payment options, during this year's Big Billion Days sale.
The company is looking to sell twice what it sold last year during this year's edition of the mega sale.
"We are now getting into the phase where we are talking about the next wave of customers. This BBD we will be tapping into the next 100 million customers apart from the first 100 million who have been shopping with us," Smrithi Ravichandran, Senior Director at Flipkart told Moneycontrol.
"Which is the reason why initiatives like recharges, great offers in unbranded fashion, seller label, private label and the whole host of affordability options, which means enabling these people to pay in parts, becomes very important," she said.
This may be perceived as a different approach, particularly when compared to the 2016 edition of the sale, when the company had claimed that unlike its rival Amazon, its numbers didn't come from selling memberships or small-ticket items such as 'hing, churan or besan'.
While Flipkart will continue to have top brands such as Michael Kors and Swarovski, among others, on its website, the idea is to offer private labels and seller labels at "extremely good price points" in order to get its next 100 million customers.
"Because we have also launched recharges, beauty and the other low ASP (average selling price) categories, we are looking at ticket sizes right from Rs 90 to Rs 3-4 lakh. We are looking at the entire gamut," she said.
"Even the recharges that you see we will have ground breaking offers which are truly unheard of in the market so far," said Ravichandran.
Flipkart launched phone recharges in July in partnership with its payments arm PhonePe, thereby becoming a direct competitor for Softbank-backed mobile payments company Paytm and other major players in the payments industry.
With an aim to take on rival Amazon's paid subscription service Prime, Flipkart too announced the launch of Flipkart Plus in August this year. However, unlike Amazon, which charges Rs 999 for an annual subscription, Flipkart Plus is a no-subscription fee, points-based programme.
Making things affordable is the top priority for Flipkart this year. "The fact that you don't have money right now should not impact your buying for the festive season," Ravichandran said.
"As long as you are credit worthy, you are showing the right behaviors on the platform, you should have option that will help you buy products on installment or help you buy product for cheaper by way of various payment construct," she said.
Both Flipkart and Amazon are offering Rs 60,000 credit to consumers under their cardless scheme, besides credit and debit card EMIs.
This year, both companies are starting their respective sales on October 10. This is the first time they will be starting their Diwali sales on the same day.
While they have steered clear of commenting on expected sales, research firm Redseer has said that about 20 million people are expected to shop on various e-commerce platforms during the five-day festive sale period, roughly translating to sales of around $3 billion.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
