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Don’t you think online buying and selling has become an essential part of our lives? Youth and adults rely on the internet to buy stuff at affordable prices with amazing return policies and guarantee. One such e-commerce platform that is tremendously successful is Flipkart.
This Indian e-commerce store has brought a revolution in the Indian e-retail industry. Let us learn about Flipkart online shopping platform, founder, subsidiaries, owner, how it works, funding, business model, and competitors.
Flipkart - Company Highlights
| Startup Name | Flipkart |
|---|---|
| Headquarter | Bengaluru, India |
| Sector | E-Commerce – Online Shopping |
| Founders | Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Parent Organization | Walmart |
| Area Served | India |
| Website | flipkart.com |
Flipkart aqcuires Walmart India - Flipkart Wholesale
Flipkart - About and How it works
Flipkart - Founders and How it Started?
Flipkart - Products/Services
Flipkart - Subsidiaries
Flipkart - Target Market Size
Flipkart - Name, Tagline, Logo
Flipkart - Business Model and Revenue Model
Flipkart - Funding and Investors
Flipkart - Mergers and Acquisitions
Flipkart - Competitors
Flipkart - Future Plans
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Flipkart aqcuires Walmart India - Flipkart Wholesale
Flipkart acquired 100% stake in Walmart India, that operates the Best Price cash-and-carry business. Thus launching Flipkart Wholesale. This step will help Flipkart strengthen its hold on Grocery/food and Fashion Business, which is stated to be highly competitive in this dynamic environment. The launch of Flipkart Wholesale will be initiated in August, thus piloting the services for Grocery and Fashion categories.
"The Best Price operation will continue to run as it is. In terms of legal structure, currently Walmart India is a separate entity within the Flipkart Group", Said Sameer Aggarwal, CEO, Walmart India.
The role of Kirana Stores and MSME' s in India's retail ecosystem is vital. With a focus on meeting their needs, Flipkart Wholesale is all set to widen up opportunities at significant value. By leveraging the expertise and knowledge, the team is breaking new norms and help the Indian Businesses to grow and succeed.
Earlier in 2018, Flipkart was acquired by Walmart for $16 Billion, by acquiring a 77% stake in Flipkart, which was the largest online e-commerce acquisition in the world in the period. Now, Flipkart is all set to launch its Wholesale unit with presence in fashion and grocery categories.
“With the launch of Flipkart Wholesale, we will now extend our capabilities across technology, logistics and finance to small businesses across the country,” Said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group
At present, Flipkart Wholesale will be headed by Adarsh Menon (A veteran at Flipkart). In order to ensure smooth functioning and transition, Sameer Aggarwal (CEO, Walmart India) will remain with the company for a while.
Flipkart - About and How it works
Flipkart is an Indian e-commerce company headquartered in Bengaluru. It was acquired by Walmart, the American retail titan, for $16 billion in May 2018. In 2007, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal started Flipkart and since then, Flipkart has only seen highs, selling a wide variety of products online like Amazon.
In the initial years, Flipkart focused on selling books but today the catalog covers categories like electronics, fashion, home essentials, groceries, and lifestyle products. More than 1 billion people have shopped using Flipkart, making the e-commerce giant one of the most popular and trending e-retailers in India. Flipkart also has subsidiaries like Myntra, PhonPe, eBay, Ekart, Jeeves, and Jabong.
Today, Flipkart has over 100 million registered users, 100 thousand sellers, and 21 state-of-the-art warehouses. It also boasts about 10 million daily page visits and over 8 million shipments/month. Flipkart is a subsidiary of Walmart.
Flipkart - Founders and How it Started?
Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal are the founders of India based Flipkart. The IIT- Delhi graduates were employees at Amazon when they began thinking of building their own company in India. Sachin and Binny started Flipkart as an online book store from a two-bedroom apartment in Bengaluru’s Kormangala area.
Sachin was the CEO since the inception of Flipkart and in 2016, Binny Bansal took over as the CEO while Sachin Bansal became the executive chairman of the company. When Sachin and Binny received a positive response and success in selling books back in the year 2007, they planned to expand to electronics as well and by 2014, the company became one of India’s most valuable startups by raising a valuation of USD 1 Billion.
When the duo founded Flipkart, online shopping in India was even a distant dream for them, but the hard work and consistency paid off and made Sachin and Binny into wildly successful entrepreneurs.
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Flipkart - Products/Services
Flipkart is India's leading e-commerce marketplace with over 80 million products across 80+ categories.
Flipkart houses everything you can possibly imagine, from trending electronics like laptops, tablets, smartphones, and mobile accessories to in-vogue fashion staples like shoes, clothing and lifestyle accessories; from modern furniture like sofa sets, dining tables, and wardrobes to appliances that make your life easy like washing machines, TVs, ACs, mixer grinder juicers and other time-saving kitchen and small appliances.
From home furnishings like cushion covers, mattresses and bedsheets to toys and musical instruments, Flipkart got them all covered. You name it, and you can stay assured about finding them all here. For those of you with erratic working hours, Flipkart is your best bet. Shop in your PJs, at night or in the wee hours of the morning. This e-commerce never shuts down.
Flipkart - Subsidiaries
More than 1 billion people have shopped using Flipkart, making the e-commerce giant one of the most popular and trending e-retailers in India. Flipkart also has subsidiaries like Myntra, PhonePe, eBay, Ekart, Jeeves, and Jabong. Myntra continues to operate alongside Flipkart as a standalone subsidiary; the site focuses on an upscale, "fashion-conscious" market, while Flipkart itself focuses on the mainstream market and major international brands. Subsidiaries of Flipkart are:
| Company | Date |
|---|---|
| Upstream Commerce | September 2018 |
| Liv.ai | August 2018 |
| F1 Info Solutions & Services | September 2017 |
| eBay India | August 2017 |
| Jabong | July 2016 |
| PhonePe | April 2016 |
| MapmyIndia | December 2015 |
| FX Mart | September 2015 |
| Appiterate | April 2015 |
| Myntra | May 2014 |
| Mallers | October 2011 |
Flipkart - Target Market Size
Flipkart uses undifferentiated targeting strategy, since people of all demography purchase items online which is available to everyone where the delivery is possible. National & Multinational E-commerce companies are giving neck to neck competition to each other, due to which their positioning is very important. Flipkart has positioned itself as a trustworthy and customer friendly E-commerce brand.
The online retail industry market is of a size of around 60 billion USD. It is expected to each 200 billion by the year 2026. The Indian and global e commerce industry is on the verge of exponential growth, and the introduction of high speed internet has fueled the process across the nation.
Before the pandemic, India was one of the most attractive e-commerce markets globally, expected to deliver 30% CAGR over a six-year time horizon, according to a report by RedSeer Consulting that projected the sector to record $160 billion in gross merchandise values (GMV) by 2022.
Flipkart - Name, Tagline, Logo
The founders, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, wanted a name that could speak beyond books and one which was suitable for different product categories that could be expanded in future. Flipkart means ‘flipping things into shopping kart’.
The logo of Flipkart was changed twice and there have been several taglines that the company has gone through for different occasions, some of which include:
- Ab Har Wish Hogi Poori
- Abhi Nahi To Kabhi Nahi
- If it's trendy, its on Flipkart
- Be Trendy, Always
- Itne mein, Itnaaaa Milega
- Shopping ka naya address
- Ab Mehengaayi Giregi
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Flipkart - Business Model and Revenue Model
Flipkart works on a B2C business model i.e. Business to Consumer model. The company initially began with a direct consumer model wherein it sold books and some other products. Today, it has become a marketplace with a huge catalog of products—right from FMCG to electronics and books. Flipkart claims it has over 80 categories and over a million sellers on board from all across India.
The company started a unique feature of value preposition by offering 24 x 7 support to the customer. Flipkart charges a certain amount or percentage of commission from the sellers which vary depending on the type of product and the kind of sales. This may range from 5% to 20% excluding the taxes and discounts.
Flipkart - Funding and Investors
Flipkart has raised a total of $7.7B in funding over 22 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Dec 3, 2019 from a Corporate Round round.
Flipkart started with an initial capital of $6000 in the year 2007. In 2008, Accel India, a venture capital firm, provided funding of $1 million. By the year 2012, Flipkart became a unicorn startup and South African Tec Major Naspers announced further funding of $150 million. After Flipkart acquired Myntra in the year 2014, it was able to raise a funding of $210 million from DST Global.
| Date | Stage | Amount | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2009 | Series A | $1 million | Accel India |
| June 2010 | Series B | $10 million | Nasper, Tiger Global Management |
| June 2011 | Series C | $20 million | Tiger Global Management |
| August 2012 | Series D | $150 million | Iconiq Capital, Naspers, Tiger Global Management, Accel |
| July 2013 | Series E | $200 million | Tiger Global Management, Naspers, Accel Partners, Iconiq Capital |
| October 2013 | Series E | $160 million | Dragoneer Investment Group, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Sofina and Vulcan Capital |
| May 2014 | Series F | $210 million | DST Global |
| July 2014 | Series G | $1 billion | Tiger Global Management, Naspers, GIC |
| December 2014 | Series H | $700 million | Baillie Gifford, Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital, T. Rowe PriceAssociates and Qatar Investment Authority |
| July 2015 | Private Equity | $700 million | Steadview Capital |
| April 2017 | Private Equity | $1.4 billion | Tencent, eBay and Microsoft |
| June 2017 | Private Equity | $71 million | Naspers |
| August 2017 | Private Equity | $1.5 billion | SoftBank Vision Fund |
| August 2017 | Secondary Market | $1 billion | SoftBank Vision Fund |
As of May 2015, Flipkart had raised $550 million from some of its existing investors, in a deal that raised its total valuation to $15 billion. In April 2017, Flipkart underwent another round of funding, with $1.4 billion at a valuation of $11.6 billion, including eBay, Microsoft, and Tencent.
In August 2018, U.S.-based retail chain Walmart acquired a 77% controlling stake in Flipkart for US$16 billion, valuing it at $20 billion. The acquisition was completed on 18 August 2018. Walmart also provided US$2 billion in equity funding to the company.
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Flipkart - Mergers and Acquisitions
Flipkart has acquired 12 organizations. Their most recent acquisition was Upstream Commerce on Sep 9, 2018.
In 2014, Flipkart bought an online apparel retailer named Myntra which is currently one of the most preferred online shopping portals for youth. The deal was closed for around $300 million. In 2016, Flipkart bought another fashion retailer named Jabong for $70 million. In the same year, Flipkart bought a payment startup company PhonePe. The company acquired eBay in 2017. In April 2017, eBay announced that it would sell its Indian subsidiary eBay.in to Flipkart and make a US$500 million cash investment in the company.
| Acquired | Date |
|---|---|
| WeRead | December 2010 |
| Mime360 | October 2011 |
| ChakPak Digital Catalogue | November 2011 |
| LetsBuy.com | February 2012 |
| Myntra | May 2014 |
| ngpay | September 2014 |
| Jeeves | November 2014 |
| AdIQuity | March 2015 |
| Appiterate | April 2015 |
| FX Mart | September 2015 |
| MapMyIndia | December 2015 |
| PhonePe | April 2016 |
| Jabong | July 2016 |
| eBay India | April 2017 |
| F1 Info Solutions & Services | September 2017 |
| Liv.ai | August 2018 |
| Upstream Commerce | September 2018 |
On May 9th, 2018, Walmart acquired a 77% stake in Flipkart which was the largest online e-commerce acquisition in the world at that time. The deal was made for $16 Billion.
Flipkart - Competitors
The service competes primarily with Amazon's Indian subsidiary, and the domestic rival Snapdeal. As of March 2017, Flipkart held a 39.5% market share of India's e-commerce industry. Flipkart is significantly dominant in the sale of apparel (a position that was bolstered by its acquisitions of Myntra and Jabong.com), and was described as being "neck and neck" with Amazon in the sale of electronics and mobile phones.
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Flipkart - Future Plans
Currently, both the co-founders don’t serve Flipkart anymore but the brand continues to stand tall despite all the challenges. Flipkart has been one of the most prominent faces in the Indian startup ecosystem.
Flipkart has never been afraid of taking risks and that is one of its key advantages. From books to electronics and household products and whatnot, it has evolved a lot in the past 12 years and will continue to expand irrespective of the change in shareholders or competitors.
Walmart's major investment in Flipkart means better service and market presence for the latter. Advancement in e-commerce, a wider range of products, better products, and upgraded integrations with small businesses are just a small chunk of the innovations we can expect from Flipkart in the coming time.
The launch of Flipkart Wholesale will be initiated in August, thus piloting the services for Grocery and Fashion categories. This step will help Flipkart strengthen its hold on Grocery/food and Fashion Business, which is stated to be highly competitive in this dynamic environment
Link : https://startuptalky.com/flipkart-success-story/
Author :- Rishabh Rathi
July 26, 2020 at 02:02AM
startuptalky