Flipkart provides greater visibility for Indian branded goods

As pressure from trade bodies and political groups mount, ecommerce marketplaces like Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon are looking to promote local brands. Flipkart in particular has revealed the initiatives it is carrying out to bring greater visibility to ‘Made in India’ products which attempt to challenge foreign goods.

• Flipkart has a dedicated team working with domestic brands to create special features

• It aims to have exclusive launches for these branded products

• 15 major brands were brought on board in 2015

• Another 15 are expected to join in 2016

Electronics shocking demand

Flipkart’s electronic category is its largest in terms of value, volume and product range. This is being driven by famous Indian brands who make up nearly 70% of its home appliance sales. For example Maharaja Whiteline food processors witnessed 700% growth during festival time, while geysers grew 300% month on month, thanks largely to the Compton Greaves brand.

Top Home Appliance brands include:

• Bajaj

• Maharaja

• Prestige

• Pigeon

• Kent

“Consumers do not want to waste their time shopping offline for products which are low in value. Flipkart is offering them that convenience. Last Republic Day we witnessed a huge demand for these brands and this Republic Day we expect the demand to double. The increase in demand for these products reflects the change in shopping behaviour too. Today, given the convenience, ease and wide range of products, customers are shopping for home appliances and accessories online more than ever,” said Adar.sh Menon, VP – Electronics, Flipkart.

Banking on Power

Brands such as Xuperb, Maxx and Hitech make up nearly 60% of powerbank sales and they grew 7x month on month. Ambrane which is another popular domestic brand, contributed to the power bank segment growing 4x in 2015. On the back of this success, Flipkart is now looking to expand its Smart category to further build its electronics portfolio.

“This has given us the confidence to push domestic brands. We are now planning to launch home-grown smart shoes and smart jewellery brands in the electronics segment soon,” added Menon.