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2015 has been an eventful year for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce">e-commerce</a> biggies. They’ve made billions (as VC investment), they’ve lost Crores (in discount wars), and they’ve hired big. Debated GMVs and tax disputes aside, Indian <keyword id="35621" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="e-commerce">e-commerce</keyword> companies could call it a day (or year?). 
 
As 2016 rolls in, the cash only seems greener on the other side with more money, innovation and definitely more bling coming their way. 
I chatted up with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mausam+Bhatt">Mausam Bhatt</a>, <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>’s Head for Growth (Sales, Online Marketing and Alliances) and Senior Director, Mobile Commerce and Online Marketing to take a sneak peek into what the coming year might mean for this <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce">e-commerce</a> giant. 
 
· You’ve said browsers are slow and the experience couldn’t be personalized. However, Flipkart Lite was released on the mobile web instead of the app. Why? 
Even 6 months ago this was not feasibility. That’s because we’ve changed the paradigm completely. We’re very much on the cutting edge of what a light weight mobile site would look like. We worked closely together with the guys from<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=+Google"> Google</a> to figure out a way to offer a native experience on a browser. Let’s see how far we can tread. 
 
· When you did launch the mobile website again, why not offer a full fledged website them? 
This is a fully fledged mobile site in the sense that everything that could have been bought earlier on our site could be bought now. It will just get better in time with notifications and personalization. Load times are also so much lesser. 
 
· Flipkart Lite comes on Opera and Google Chrome. Any plans to extend it to other browsers? 
Our team is working to standardize the interface. In the next couple of quarters we could have this across all browsers. 
 
· What are you focus areas in 2016? 
Our primary focus is to ensure the app remains light on the system. It shouldn’t bloat with the added functionalities. We are also looking to leverage the fundamental features that a mobile device offers. Search is a major focus area. Last but not the least are ratings and reviews. We can leverage gestures for reviews, enable Vine videos, audio bytes and so on. Social and location proof could also be added. 
 
· Flipkart recently picked up over 34% stake in digital mapping firm MapmyIndia. What are you planning to do with that? 
Location and logistics are a big problem in India. We’re working closely to solve issues like longer delivery times, repeat deliveries and unnecessary phone conversations. 
 
· Where are you pouring most of your marketing budget as 2016 rolls in? 
Increasingly we’re committed digital and online more and more. The people we are trying to attract are online anyway. If you look at the hierarchy of online needs, it starts out with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=online+messaging">online messaging</a>, photo sharing, content, and then <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce">e-commerce</a>. The opportunities for us are online, and get them to shopping. It’s a matter of being closer to where the users are, and it is online. 
 
Few years ago mass media was more important because as a country we were running campaign posts to advertise the benefits of online shopping. Now awareness levels around <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce">e-commerce</a> are fairly high. 
 
· Flipkart bled close to Rs 2,000 Crores in the year ending March. Most of that was in discounting war. Do think you guys overdid it a bit? 
Over a period of time product differentiation will become more important than the prices. Companies will then differentiate on overall end-to-end customer experience and trust. 
 
· There has been a firm push to encourage prepaid payment. How is it picking up? 
Cash on Delivery continues to be important in the country. Wallet and credit card adoption are rising for repeat consumers. As brand loyalty kicks in, people seem OK with saving money in a wallet. 
 
· Flipkart has introduced native advertising for companies to engage better with customers on its mobile platform. Tell me more about this. 
We have collected a lot of consumer-based data over the last 8 years. This can be great for brands to leverage. This can drive a lot of traffic for intent-based purchases to brands. 
 
· What’s Flipkart’s primary focus for the app in the coming year? 
A lot of effort will go into making the experience more personalized. That will make sure it is a one-of-a-kind experience. 
 
· You are hiring big this placement season. What are your plans with the fresh talent you’re getting? 
Seeing companies express appetite for more engineering talent is really heart-warming. We are planning to build our own data platform. It is a high priority for us now. Once more engineering talent comes in we’re also planning to do more on Engineering and Vision. We’ll balance expertise in these areas with raw talent from the universities. 
 
All I can say is exciting times are ahead! 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Exclusive: Flipkart 2016 - The Way Forward

India’s largest online marketplace, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=flipkart&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Flipkart</a>, is going to re-launch its private label business model under which it will come out with in-house brands in various categories such as mobile, jewellery and fashion accessories. 
 The earlier private-label model did not do well and under the new plan <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> will license its private-label brands to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=sellers&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">sellers</a> who can meet quality manufacturing benchmarks and product specifications. 
 Flipkart had launched its private-label business three years back with <keyword id="2338688" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="DigiFlip">Digiflip</keyword> in consumer electronics, <keyword id="1343517" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Citron">Citron</keyword> in home appliances and <keyword id="2509608" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flippd">Flippd</keyword> in apparels. 
 
They were not successful following which Flipkart stopped selling Digiflip tablet computers. 
 
For this new plan, Mausam Bhatt, who was senior director- mobile commerce and online marketing at Flipkart, will be responsible. 
 
"Flipkart will create brands and those brands can be licensed to various sellers, based on specifications directed by the company. The ownership of the brand will rest with Flipkart," ET quoted one of the sources as saying. 
 
The idea behind private labels is to increase profit and plug gaps in product categories as in electronic products margins can be as high as 20 per cent, as per experts. 
 
Even <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=amazon&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Amazon</a> sells its own brand of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=computers&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">computers</a>, mobile accessories and other products through AmazonBasics.

Flipkart is likely to re-launch its own private label business, this time with some tweaks

Competition in the <keyword id="436047" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ecommerce">eCommerce</keyword> space is getting hotter and hotter. E-tailers are trying their best to outdo the competition by offering discounts, organising flash sales, launching contests and more. However, another bigger trend that we are observing in the eCommerce industry is: ‘the <keyword id="235499" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="APP">app</keyword>’ move. 
 
E-tailers are encouraging consumers to shop using their apps these days by offering extra discounts, freebies and more such things. Does this ring a bell? If you are an eCommerce shopper, then it defintely will. But did you ever think, why are eCommerce players making this move? 
 
Coz mobile data is on rise 
We feel that eCommerce players are making this move considering consumers’ Internet consumption patterns. A recent study by Indian mobile network points out that 75% of Indians own a mobile device as against 15% getting access to broadband Internet. In addition, there are also studies, which reveal that an Indian user spends an average 200 minutes a day on smartphones and user base for the same is expected to grow to 205 million by this year. And what else could be a better way to tap this consumer base other than ‘app’. 
 
 
e-tailers to kill their desktop sites? The way eCommerce players are going aggressive about apps, saying that their desktop sites would have an untimely death would be wrong—but the scene could change in the near future. The first visible signs for this are the stats which suggest that online fashion companies like <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword> have 80% of traffic and 60% of sales coming from its <keyword id="6369871" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Mobile-app">mobile app</keyword>. 
 
 
 
App: The next ‘in-thing’ in eCommerce 
 
As per analysts, the day isn’t far when 80-90% orders would start coming through app, the daily has reported. 
In Tier-II/ Tier-III cities, penetration of Internet is much less and people still rely on brick and mortar stores. In those areas, accessing to eCommerce through mobile is easier and convenient. 
 
A regular buyer through apps of various eCommerce companies, Sweta told BI, “It’s all about on the go! Since I’ve a fascination for shoes the entire stretch I travel in Delhi metro, I would browse shoes across all online stores. Whichever suits my pocket and choice, I just buy it instantly. Moreover, the mobile screen being smaller than web, the designing is more crisp and convenient.” 
 No wonder, to cheer up more buyers through mobile, eCommerce companies like Amazon and <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> are offering extra discounts to buyers ordering through apps. Amazon’s ‘Appiness’ offer last year had increased its traffic through app by 4 times and more. 
 
Mausam Bhatt, senior director, marketing (mobile and digital marketing) of Flipkart had said "Over the past year we have been seeing that there is an increase in growth coming from our mobile app. A majority of this growth is coming from outside of metro cities. So, we are taking this opportunity to connect with our consumers better and grow the user base for our mobile app by having a shopping festival exclusively there.” 
 
(Image: Reuters)

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