RETAILERS DELIBERATED AT RAI RETAIL INDIA SUMMIT &

 RETAILERS DELIBERATED AT RAI RETAIL INDIA SUMMIT & EXPO 2022 (RISE 2022)

 

The Retailers Association of India (RAI) organised the ‘Retail India Summit & Expo (RISE) 2022’ on 6 December, 2022 in New Delhi. The summit saw an overwhelming participation of the retail fraternity and retail service providers, including retail designers, visual merchandisers, shopfitters, as well as those in real estate and technology. Evolving customer expectations were at the core of all discussions at the summit.

 

Setting the tone of RISE 2022, Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI), said “There is never a dull time in retail. Consumers are evolving fast and personalisation has got re-emphasised. Omnichannel retail has become a way of life, both for consumers as well as for businesses. Social commerce too is becoming important as an increasing number of consumers are now not only discovering products on social media but are also buying on social media platforms. In the coming year, ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) an initiative by DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industries and Internal Trade) may be the game-changer in India as it seeks to democratise e-commerce.”

 

 

 

Delivering his special address as the Chief Guest at RISE 2022, Shri Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, said, “The Honourable Prime Minister of India always has ease of doing business on top of his agenda. He believes that supporting ethical and honest businesses will help the economy.  India’s retail is worth $ 800 billion and the push that India wants to give to its economy can primarily come from manufacturing and retail. It is important to protect the interest of the consumers and retail businesses thrive on consumers.”

 

Highlights of the Summit included a workshop on Legal Metrology conducted by Shri Ashutosh Agarwal, Deputy Director, Legal Metrology, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India. 

 

Throughout the day summit touched upon various discussions, namely Going beyond Traditional Norms: What Retailers are doing differently to ensure Growth and Expansion; NextGen Omni Channel Engagement: Connecting Interactions Across all Channels; The X Factor: What defines India's most Successful Retail Brands; From digi-first to evolving trends: the Retailer’s Mantra to Stay ahead of the Curve; and a special roundtable discussion on Simplifying Retention for Retail & CPC Industry, among other retail solution provider presentations. 

 

Speaking at RISE 2022, Lalit Agarwal, Managing Director, V-Mart, said, “In this new world, there is differentiated consumer behaviour. We are inciting a lot of change in a post-pandemic world. This change will keep us going as retail continues to evolve.”

 

Speaking about the evolving consumers, Amit Dutta, CEO, Le Marche Retail, said “In a pre-pandemic world, we had to only focus on store experience. Now, it’s more focused on home delivery using WhatsApp, Zomato, and Swiggy. We took our own omnichannel journey. Challenge is the consumer is evolved, but the employee has not. We still need to outperform and meet targets and take on the competition. The balance will happen over time, but this will not be an overnight phenomenon.”

 

Retail leaders speaking at the summit included Anupam Bansal, Director, Liberty Shoes;

Dhruv Bogra, Country Manager, Forever New Clothing, Gunjan Shah, CEO, Bata India Ltd.

Manish Sapra, CEO, Kama Ayurveda; Rahul Bharde, VP & Head of Analytics & Insights , Jubilant Foodworks; Jay Kapoor, President-Retail, Fabindia; Anil Sharma, COO - FNP Retail & Franchise, Ferns N Petals; Murali Krishnan, CMO and Co-founder, Wow! Momo Foods; Naman Mawandia, Co-Founder, Magicpin; Pankaj Vermani, Founder & CEO, Clovia; Rajesh Sethuraman, Vice President - Brand Experience, Blackberrys Menswear; Sunil Menon, Chief Retail Expansion Officer, Lenskart; Ankur Bhatia, CEO, Chogori India Retail; Akhil Jain, Director, Madame Apparel; 

J P Shukla, CEO, Nysaa Retail; Mayank Mohan, Director, Mohanlal Sons; Rochita Dey, Director, Sreeleathers; among others. 

 

Over the years, ‘Retail India Summit & Expo (RISE) has evolved to provide retailers with a platform to find the right business partners and solutions across categories to help take their business to the next level. The objective of Retail India Summit & Expo (RISE) is to bring together retailers and retail service providers under one roof to facilitate dialogue and explore changing trends of the industry. It is a platform to discuss new inspirations and innovation to win new customers, retain existing ones, and ultimately increase sales.

Flipkart’s Shopsy announces slew of initiatives to further accelerate

 Flipkart’s Shopsy announces slew of initiatives to further accelerate
social commerce across smaller cities

                                 Announces zero commission marketplace for sellers

• Shopsy has witnessed rapid growth since its launch in July 2021, with over 2 Lakh users active on the platform
• Shopsy targets 20X growth ahead of the festive season
  

Flipkart’s latest offering Shopsy, announced the launch of a zero-commission marketplace. Through this initiative,  Flipkart will help organise and bring smaller sellers across Fashion, grocery and home categories, online. This will further enable and amplify the supply of products and catalogues on the platform, and spur e-commerce growth across tier 2 cities and towns that have been untouched by digital retail so far.

Today 70% of Flipkart’s  customers come from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. With Shopsy, Flipkart aims to scale this to 90%. Flipkart believes gamification along with social commerce features will help it achieve this mission. One such feature is Shop & Earn, where users will be able to unlock higher incentives on achieving a certain weekly/monthly target. This kind of gamification will further lead to virality and evangelization for fringe e-commerce customers.

Over the last decade, Flipkart has championed several initiatives to unlock value for its customers leveraging tech and innovation. This forms a strong and critical base for the success of a next-generation social commerce platform. Sellers are already leveraging Flipkart’s ad tech platform to complement the zero-commission strategy. Additionally, Flipkart's low cost logistic network and affordability programs like ‘Flipkart Pay Later’ are two other key levers that would act as game changing catalysts in the context of social commerce.

Prakash Sikaria, Senior Vice President - Growth and Monetization, Flipkart, said, “Our vision with Shopsy is to enable digital commerce for everyone across India. We have received an overwhelming response and are further looking to enable several initiatives on the platform to accelerate growth. Shopsy is growing 100% week on week. The platform is demonstrating the behaviour of a typical social app and virality is starting to kick in. To further expedite this, we aim to bring the best of e-commerce to social commerce as we progress in our journey. The Flipkart Group has been committed to constantly expanding the scope of e-commerce; and Shopsy is an important step in that direction.”

Within a month of its launch, Shopsy has already onboarded more than 2 lakh users. With the onset of the festive season, the platform aims to keep accelerating its growth over the next two months by ramping up features and offerings for Indians who are keen to start their social commerce journey.

Shopsy provides social commerce opportunities for enterprising Indians. Leveraging their local network, Shopsy users are able to share catalogues of a wide selection of 15 Crore products offered by Flipkart sellers over social media and communication apps. Providing access to its catalogue and full stack e-commerce services over simplified social media interface, Flipkart believes can democratize commerce and can disrupt the emerging social commerce landscape.

You can download Shopsy from:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flipkart.shopsy

FSN E–COMMERCE VENTURES LIMITED (NYKAA)

 FSN E–COMMERCE VENTURES LIMITED (NYKAA) 

FILES DRHP WITH SEBI

 •        The 3,500-4,000Cr IPO to value Nykaa at $5.0bn-$5.5bn

•        The Company clocked nearly 57% CAGR in GMV from FY19-FY21, and more than 48% CAGR in revenue terms from FY19-FY21

•        The Company’s revenue from operations jumped from Rs. 1,768Cr in FY20 to Rs. 2,441Cr in FY21

•        One of the only profitable digitally native companies, has reported net profit of Rs. 619.45 million in FY21

•        Promoter & Promoter Group selling less than 2% of their holding in the Company; to retain majority stake of more than 51% post-IPO

•        Most of the selling shareholders are only exiting partially, and will continue to retain stake in the Company post-IPO

FSN E-Commerce Ventures Private Limited, a digitally native consumer technology platform, delivering a content-led, lifestyle retail experience to consumers has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus with market regulator SEBI. The company has a diverse portfolio of beauty, personnel care and fashion products, including its owned manufactured brand products, under its two business verticals – Nykaa and Nykaa Fashion.

The initial public offer comprises a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs. 5,250 million, and an offer for sale of up to 43,111,670 equity shares being offered by the selling shareholders. The offer will also include a reservation of equity shares for purchase by eligible employees. The key selling shareholders include some of the private equity investors like TPG Growth and Lighthouse Funds, and some individual shareholders. However, most of the investors are not cashing out fully, and will continue to retain some stake in the Company post-IPO. One of the promoter and promoter group entities is also selling a few shares in the offer for sale, however this only amounts to less than 2% of the total promoter and promoter group shareholding. The promoter and promoter group will continue to hold more than 51% of the Company’s shares.

The Company is the largest Specialty Beauty and Personal Care Platform in India in terms of value of products sold in FY21, and one of the fastest growing fashion platforms in India based on growth in GMV from FY20 to FY21. The Company clocked nearly 57% CAGR in GMV from FY19-FY21, and more than 48% CAGR in revenue terms from FY19-FY21.

What makes Nykaa stand out, however, is that amongst the new age consumer internet companies, Nykaa is the one of the only profitable ones, and has reported net profit of Rs. 619.45 million in the Financial Year 2021. The Company has also been EBITDA positive consistently over the last 3 years.

The IPO is likely to value the Company at around $5.0bn-$5.5bn.

The Company plans to use the proceeds from the IPO for expansion, by setting up new retail stores and establishing new warehouses. It also plans to retire some of its debt, which should bring down interest costs, and further shore up its profitability. The Company is also planning to deploy the proceeds of the IPO for marketing and promotional activities, to focus on strengthening its 13 owned brands such as “Nykaa Cosmetics”, “Nykaa Naturals” and “Kay Beauty” along with establishing and promoting new brands.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited and Morgan Stanley India Company Private Limited are the Global Co-ordinators and Book Running Lead managers. BofA Securities India Limited, Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited, ICICI Securities Limited and JM Financial Limited are Book Running Lead Managers.

Some key highlights as per RedSeer report on Nykaa:

1.      In the Financial Year 2021, 2.4 million Orders were placed for fashion products with a total GMV of Rs. 6,655.7 million. Nykaa Fashion is one of the fastest growing fashion platforms in India based on growth in GMV from the Financial Year 2020 to the Financial Year 2021.

2.      As of March 31, 2021, the company had the largest influencer network in the online beauty and personal care sector in India of 1,363 influencers, including Generation Z trend setters, mommy bloggers, beauty, fashion and lifestyle bloggers, makeup artists and celebrities.

3.      The company is one of the most influential lifestyle platforms in India with over 12.6 million followers across leading social media platforms as of March 31, 2021

4.      Nykaa Network is India’s first interactive beauty forum to reach a scale of 3.1 million members as of March 31, 2021, where members can chat with other beauty enthusiasts, ask and answer beauty-related questions, give and seek advice, discover trends and join beauty-centric conversations on topics of their interest.

Flipkart Video Gives the Audience a Next-Level Interactive Experience

 Flipkart Video Gives the Audience a Next-Level Interactive Experience 

with Crime Stories Season 2

~ Viewers get to choose Inspector Vikrant’s actions in the investigation~

~The series is now live on the Flipkart App~

Link to the trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gecef6kY1vo

Should Inspector Vikrant check the victim’s phone logs? Or should he check the surveillance footage to find the killer? Which lead should Inspector Vikrant follow? The power to decide now rests in the hands of the viewer. Flipkart Video announces the return of its investigative drama series, Crime Stories by giving interactive crime fiction a new avatar. Launching today on the Flipkart app, the series introduces ‘branching video’ technology, a feature that draws audiences to become a part of the narrative by letting them choose between different, compelling storylines.

Following the nail-biting end of season one, the latest edition promises to offer new and intriguing unsolved cases, suspects and unexpected plot twists that will continue to keep viewers at the edge of their seats. Flipkart Video’s introduction of the ‘branching video’ feature will also enhance consumer experience by engaging viewers actively in the storyline giving them the chance to explore alternative possibilities that each episode can take.

Commenting on his association with Flipkart Video, actor K.C. Shankar said, “Inspector Vikrant is one of the most interesting characters that I've ever played and the experience of working on this show only got better with the new season. With the introduction of the ‘branching video’ feature, we had to shoot an alternate storyline which was thrilling and challenging at the same time. Audiences are looking to do more than just watch the show. They want to be involved, everyone loves having control and this new season gives them an opportunity to do just that. I can’t wait for everyone to tune in to the Flipkart app and catch the criminal along with me while winning exciting prizes.”

Talking about the launch, Aloka Guha, Senior Director & Head of Content, Flipkart Video said, “With the launch of Crime Stories season 2, we continue to be at the forefront of innovation by launching interactive content that delivers a unique experience. By introducing the branching video technology, we are giving viewers a more immersive entertainment experience which is different from anything we have done before. This introduction is built on our deep consumer understanding, which has revealed a growing fascination in taking more 'control' on the content they consume. We are excited for audiences to watch this new season and determine for themselves, how the story moves forward.”

Each episode, released daily, will be a stand-alone case, revolving around the interrogation of multiple suspects while also engaging viewers through one branching question per episode that lets them explore the story in the direction they want to, and win exciting prizes.

The show is now live on the Flipkart App and users can access the show by clicking on the Video icon at the bottom right of the Flipkart app’s homepage.

Meesho Becomes the First E-commerce Marketplace to

Meesho Becomes the First E-commerce Marketplace to 

Offer Zero Percent Commission to Sellers

Meesho takes a huge stride towards its vision of helping 100 million
small businesses succeed online

Meesho, India’s largest online marketplace for longtail products, has also become the first e-commerce platform in the country to introduce 0% commission for all its sellers. Complying with the company’s ambitious vision of enabling 100 million small businesses to become successful online, Meesho aims to make e-commerce experiences for its sellers on the platform hassle-free. It encourages them to focus on investing their capital more effectively rather than spending a huge chunk on commissions. This measure comes at an opportune time as businesses gear up for the upcoming festive season in the country.

Announcing the initiative, Vidit Aatrey, Co-Founder & CEO, Meesho, said, “With our mission set on enabling 100 million small and medium-sized enterprises to go digital with Meesho, this initiation cements our commitment to sellers and allows us to be a part of their growth journey. We are the first e-commerce company in the country to introduce zero percent commission for our sellers. Our awareness of the challenges that business owners face while moving from offline to online has helped us build a platform that promises ease of operations with visibility of all their products. We believe Meesho’s 0% commission will immensely help sellers realize how digital transition is easy and efficient.”

Since the launch of the program, Meesho has witnessed a 25% rise in the number of sellers and manufacturers joining the platform. Having recently joined Meesho, Kamal Rathi, a Meesho seller from Ahmedabad said, “I am happy that I decided to join Meesho. It has helped me take my business digital. Thanks to Meesho’s 0% commission program and the wide reach and visibility it gave my products - my profit is 100%. It has given a significant boost to my business. I am all set for the festive season, when I hope to increase my earnings.”

India has about 6.3 crore Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and among them, only a mere 10 lac MSMEs are running their businesses online. With the various incentives Meesho provides them, these small businesses can now easily make the shift online. Meesho currently assists sellers with logistics, payments, customer care, efficient tools to create online catalogs, and even data-led business insights on what is in demand and how they can sharpen their assortment. Now, with 0% commission, there is even more of a reason to make this lucrative shift, and for more sellers to sell their products across 700+ categories on Meesho.

In line with the 0% commission initiative by Meesho, a digital campaign, ‘Meesho pe Commission hai Zero, Ab business aapka Banega Hero’ (मीशो पे कमीशन है जीरो, अब बिजनेस आपका बनेगा हीरो'), has been launched to increase awareness among small-medium sized businesses. There is no better time to take business online and benefit from Meesho’s pro-seller 0% commission program with the wide reach across the country that it promises.

Meesho’s mission is to democratize internet commerce for everyone and continuously facilitate the transition of small businesses from the offline to the online realm. With the ongoing campaign, Meesho has taken a significant stride in this direction. Meesho has successfully delivered orders from 1 lakh + registered sellers to over 26,000 pin codes in more than 4,800 cities, unleashing the true growth potential of these sellers.

YouTube Link -  https://youtu.be/FgZRU-FIIlw

sellers planning to join the Zero percent commission program on Meesho, please register here https://supplier.meesho.com/

Warehousing demand expected to

Warehousing demand expected to grow around
160% to reach 35 million sq. ft in 2021: JLL

• E-commerce & 3PL emerges as largest occupiers with more than 55% of all absorption in the country
• More than 15 Tier II cities gaining strength in warehousing
• Built manufacturing has been a sunrise segment with more than 6.6 million sq. ft of absorption in 2020

Despite unfavorable socio-economic environment, warehousing stock in top 8 cities, which includes, NCR Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad has added 27 million sq. ft to reach a total of 238 million sq. ft. in 2020 as per the ‘India Real Estate Outlook – A new growth cycle’ by JLL. Further, the demand is expected to grow around 160% to reach 35 million sq. ft in 2021 if the external conditions stay stable, mainly if there is no relapse of COVID / lockdown and so on. Probably over the next one to two quarters, a clearer picture will emerge.   

“In Q4, the market started gaining momentum with highest supply and absorption in 2020 post the lockdown. Industrial spaces witnessed a 13% Y-o-Y growth in total stock in Grade A & B warehousing space in top 8 cities. The overall warehousing space stands at 238 million sq. ft at the end of 2020 compared to 211 million sq. ft in the previous year thereby resulting in a net supply of 27 million sq. ft,” said Yogesh Shevade, Head Industrial Services, JLL, India. “Important point to note here is that in 2020 the end -users / tenants have looked for new and innovative ways to taking up spaces on short term / temporary leased of tenure 9 -12 months for leasing of ‘white spaces / unused spaces’ in existing leased warehouse on sub-lease. Unfortunately, these does not get captured in net absorptions (considering these are already leased),” he added.

The warehousing and logistics market in India started gaining impetus with highest supply and absorption in the Q4 of 2020. The demand is expected to increase in 2021 and reach close to 35 million sq. ft of absorption, almost similar in line with 2019 levels, supported by growing demand in sectors such as 3PL and e-commerce. 3PL has become one of the fastest growing segments in the warehousing space, contributing nearly 35% of total net absorption in 2020, highest among all the other sectors. Likewise, many e-commerce categories are expected to do very well, as consumers are making a behavioral shift from buying offline to online. COVID-19 has accelerated e-commerce adoption rates with an increase in UPI transactions by 42% during the lockdown period, leading to an upsurge in the demand for online delivery of essential and non-essential items.

Tier II & III cities are gaining strength in warehousing is eminent from the changing pattern of a typical warehouse sizes with some large transaction sizes of 0.3 – 0.4 million sq. ft, even in cities such as Coimbatore and Lucknow as outliers and ranging between 0.1 – 0.2 million sq. ft in general, as compared to 0.025 - 0.05 million sq. ft (25,000 – 50,000 sq. ft) a few years back.

Scale also brings sophistication (economics of scale) and therefore we have seen pick up in higher infrastructure organised spaces even in Tier II cities. JLL research indicates that warehousing sizes is expected to grow.

Tier II & III cities of significance would include (in no order): 

North: Chandigarh – Rajpura, Jaipur, Lucknow,

• East: Guwahati, Raipur, Patna, Bhubaneshwar,
• West: Surat, Vadodara, Indore,
• South: Coimbatore, Vizag, Vijayawada, Kochi

On the manufacturing front, India stands out as a potential powerhouse with new trends being observed and is expected to continue in the built manufacturing sector such as flex manufacturing. Manufacturing companies are looking for new trends such as rented factories which help in higher CAPEX savings for the owner as it converts CAPEX (land and building) to OPEX (rent). Ready-built factories with pre-constructed/ ready infrastructure as well as built-to-suit factories are available on rent. “Interestingly, the year 2020 saw more than 6.6 million sq. ft of leased manufacturing in predominant manufacturing destinations of Top 8 cities,” said Saravanan Srinivasan, Head Manufacturing practice of Industrial Services, JLL, India.

Flipkart sees Tier 3+ markets as the new

  Flipkart sees Tier 3+ markets as the new frontier for e-commerce

~ Registered 65% new user growth in the ‘Unlock’* phase from Tier 3+ markets

~ Highest growth recorded for new sellers on-boarded from these regions

~ Adoption of native languages sees a 2.5x increase from pre-COVID* to the festive* period

With the need for social distancing and prioritizing safety, the pandemic has led to millions of people turning to e-commerce this past year, not only in metros but also in tier 3+ regions. E-commerce has focused on ecosystem partnerships, technological advancements and new tools that enable ease of experience for first-time users to meet the needs of consumers this year while ensuring business continuity for lakhs of MSMEs and sellers.

Flipkart has witnessed interesting demand patterns across India in 2020 as it catered to an array of consumer requirements in this unprecedented year. The company focused on consistently addressing the needs of aspiring customers in Tier 3+ regions who seek the latest products but have limited access, and customers in metros who seek new products with a minimum delivery time frame.

From changes in category preferences, the emergence of the “new essentials” to the adoption of native languages and surge in new-age forms of payments, this year has borne witness to an array of unique consumer trends.

‘Bharat’ consumers lead the race in a post-pandemic world

E-commerce established deep inroads in different regions of the country this year. With a growing reliance to fulfill daily necessities and aspirations of consumers, Flipkart witnessed a new user growth of close to 50% right after the lockdown*, with tier 3+ regions registering the highest growth of 65% during the ‘Unlock’* (July - September) phase. Consumers from tier 2 and tier 3+ regions also spent the most time on the platform, signaling a continuing rise in user engagement and a shift in shopping preferences.

Increased adoption courtesy voice assistant and vernacular interface

To ensure that first-time users are at ease while shopping, Flipkart introduced two new capabilities to handhold them through the purchase journey - a voice assistant in Grocery, and vernacular interfaces across multiple languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. As more consumers joined the e-commerce bandwagon this year, a growing preference to shop in their local language was seen. This year, the adoption of native languages saw a 2.5x increase from pre-COVID* to the festive period* (January to November 2020).

Digital transactions reach new heights with UPI surge

This year, consumers across India embraced and increasingly relied on the convenience and ease of online financial transactions. Flipkart has always provided customers with the best and most convenient payment methods, and this year was no different. UPI adoption on the Flipkart platform increased nationally by 4.5X from January 2020 to August 2020, with Maharashtra taking the lead with a 5.2X growth. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were the other states that were at the top of the list for UPI adoption on the Flipkart platform.

MSMEs and micro-businesses become ‘atma-nirbhar’ with the help of e-commerce

E-commerce, over the last few years, has played a significant role in accelerating the growth of MSMEs, micro-businesses, artisans, weavers and handicraft makers across the country. This year, e-commerce played an even more essential role in extending livelihood opportunities and a chance of operational revival as these businesses were hit severely due to the pandemic.

Flipkart saw close to a 35% increase in sellers onboarded in 2020, in comparison to the same period last year. These sellers came from tier 2 and tier 3 regions such as Tirupur, Howrah, Zirakpur, Hisar, Saharanpur, Panipat and Rajkot. They primarily catered to categories such as Household needs, Women’s Ethnic Wear, Grooming, Home Decor and Toys & School Supplies.

Flipkart works closely with its seller partners to ease them on to the e-commerce fold. This includes working capital support, constant counsel to leverage unique benefits on its marketplace model, analytics and market intelligence to support business decisions as well as on-ground support to ensure smooth movement of goods.

The emergence of the ‘New Essentials’ in 2020

The term ‘essentials’ has received a whole new interpretation in 2020, as consumer needs evolved dynamically throughout the year. Moving beyond what was previously perceived as critical goods, the definition has now shifted to include daily items that a consumer needs not just for food or health, but also for work and even remote learning. Pre-COVID*, the most searched products included Personal Care, Men’s Clothing, Footwear and Women’s Clothing. During the lockdown*, Food and Nutrition, Household, Toys and Audio products witnessed the highest demand.

Speaking about catering to evolving consumer preferences this year, Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart Group, said, “As India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, our efforts continue to be dedicated to making e-commerce inclusive for every customer, irrespective of where they are located. Flipkart’s purpose has been elevated this past year, as we continue to play an important role in ensuring the safe delivery of products to consumers’ doorsteps through a safe and sanitized supply chain. The emergence of “the new essentials” has seen the creation of greater opportunities and partnerships on our marketplace. This past year, we have strived to expand our offerings across categories to ensure our consumers are well equipped with everything that they need. We have consistently worked towards creating an ecosystem that serves consumers’ growing needs and also helping Indian sellers and MSMEs access the pan-India market more effectively & efficiently.”

 

Other Key Highlights

Seller story: Surat and Jaipur together, saw a higher number of new sellers onboarded, in comparison to Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore combined Loyalty unlocked: Flipkart Plus saw a 4X growth in the number of new accounts activated from the pre-COVID* period to the ‘Unlock’* phase. The number of SuperCoins redeemed was more than double, for this same period. Product preferences: Home Entertainment, Women’s Western wear, Household items and Toys were some of the newer categories that consumers looked for during 2020

 

In a year of unprecedented developments driven by a host of external factors, everyone has learnt to embrace change, and for many, this change was led by e-commerce. Looking ahead, one of the most promising signs for the e-commerce industry is the increasing number of new shoppers and the emergence of new categories. Bharat will continue to play an important role in Flipkart’s story as it continues to work towards onboarding the next 200 million consumers.

Flipkart Launches 2GUD Local With The Aim Of Bringing Popular Offline Retailers

 Flipkart Launches 2GUD Local With The Aim Of Bringing Popular Offline Retailers
And Shopping Destinations To Consumers Across India

• 2GUD Local will showcase the best of single brand/multi-brand stores through long-format videos coupled with engaging narratives
• 2GUD Local will further assist these stores in creating their digital footprint including cataloging support, consumer fulfillment, advertising and marketing

 With an aim to extend e-commerce benefits to traditional retail businesses, Flipkart's independent value-driven platform, 2GUD announced the launch of 2GUD Local - Bringing India’s Favorite Shopping Centers Online. The new format will offer offline stores, brands and shopping destinations an opportunity to unlock the benefits of technology and the social commerce hybrid retail model to reach millions of pan India consumers. 2GUD Local will enable local stores (single brand or multi-brand stores and other shopping destinations) and retailers to expand their digital footprint to connect more effectively with their consumers. 

Throughlong-format videos shot within store premises by influencers, coupled with engaging narratives and conversations, 2GUD Local partner stores will be able to showcase their latest products and collections and offer them to online users. 2GUD Local will assist stores in many important areas, including cataloging, consumer fulfillment, advertising, and marketing. It will provide them with an additional channel for sales and access to new geographies for consumer acquisition.

In light of the pandemic, as consumers continue to stay indoors and take safety and precautionary measures, 2GUD Local enables them to shop for their needs and favorite products from their regular stores virtually within the safety of their homes. Consumers can even check out those products that were earlier unavailable to them due to reach or availability. 2GUD Local kick starts its efforts to digitize offline brands with KLM Fashion Mall in Bengaluru.

Chanakya Gupta, Head of 2GUD, Flipkart, said, “Value spending and convenience are becoming key aspects of online shopping experiences. We have launched 2GUD Local to help local brands leverage traffic on our already-popular marketplace and take their offerings to a pan-India market. Audience engagement on our platform is very high, and it will allow brands to have more facetime with shoppers. 2GUD Local will enable them to offer as close to an in-store experience as they can, online. We look forward to partnering with more local partner brands and serving consumers across the country in times when social distancing is of utmost importance.”

Being a part of 2GUD Local, Prasad Chalavadi, Founder and CMD, KLM Fashion Mall said, “2GUD is an exceptional platform that can be leveraged by regional retailers to seamlessly capture a large number of customers. KLM Fashion Mall's association with 2GUD is sure to be successful, which benefits us in far-reaching to our customers.”

Launched in 2017, KLM Fashion Mall has expanded its reach through 17 showrooms in the last 3 years. They were also awarded as the ‘Affordable Store of the Year’ by Times Icon. KLM Fashion Mall is known to provide value-driven offers throughout the year and is considered a ‘pocket-friendly’ choice for consumers looking for the best prices, wide range and fine quality.

E-commerce has stirred a significant revolution in the retail industry. It has enabled small brands and local players to reach consumers at a time where they are opting for contactless shopping experiences, doorstep delivery, easy billing, personalized offers and curated selections. 2GUD Local is currently available on the app and m-site.

2GUD currently covers more than 600 product segments and offers both new and refurbished products. The platform has more than a million consumers across more than 15,000 PIN codes in India.

Watch the first video on 2GUD Local, which goes Live today at 4 PM only on the 2GUD App. Follow the link here: https://toogud.app.link/klm_campaign_overallpstore2

Bharat’s increased appetite for

 Bharat’s increased appetite for consumer durables: Flipkart

The Indian consumer durables market is one of the fastest-growing in the world with e-commerce taking to the farthest corners across the country, driving the demand from tier-II and beyond cities. This assumes significance on the back of the upcoming festival season and Flipkart’s Big Billion Days, slated to begin from October 16 where consumers will be able to easily access their consumer durable requirements in an affordable manner. Flipkart has been at the forefront of meeting the demand from smaller markets, through its pan-India supply chain offering doorstep delivery across 20,000 pincodes and installation services across multiple cities. This, along with affordable payment constructs such as No Cost EMI, Debit Card EMI has enabled consumers to shop online seamlessly.

However, new demand drivers such as work from home have emerged in the past few months with an increasing number of consumers continuing to spend more time at home as they observe social distancing. This has accelerated the demand for functional home and kitchen appliances that make  lives simpler and has been a top priority for households as they juggle working/learning from home and household chores.

Amidst this, customers are opting for online channels to adhere to social distancing norms, for convenience and for safety. In line with this, Flipkart is ramping up and making sure customers have easy access to products and affordable means to them. By consistently striving to cater to people’s growing needs across the country, especially in the consumer durables segment, Flipkart offers a wide and affordable range of consumer durables to customers. Delivered through a safe and sanitised supply chain and installation, the products are made available in some of the remotest corners in the country. With this in mind, Flipkart has strengthened and expanded its dedicated warehouses and last mile network for appliances, with specialized capabilities to handle fragile and bulky items for seamless delivery and installation. This, coupled with the affordability constructs ensure customers have access to the best brands, great prices, assured services, best exchange and best warranty programs.

Hari Kumar G, Senior Director, Flipkart said, “There has been a growing demand for multi-functional consumer durables, especially from smaller towns as consumers look to balance their work and life in the new world order. Reaching out to the consumers in tier-II cities and beyond, Flipkart has introduced a robust ecosystem that assures quick and assured delivery and has made a wide array of intelligent, multi-functional appliances available that caters to their unique demands. With the upcoming festive season, Flipkart is offering industry’s best value added services that will enable Bharat to make big-ticket purchases in a cost-effective, seamless fashion.”

Flipkart explains how Bharat’s appetite for consumer durables has surged, shedding light on some interesting observations in the segment.

1. Hygiene appliances are in demand

Amidst the pandemic, customers are looking for products that help simplify sanitisation and other hygiene processes so they can rest assured. There has been a considerable increase in the demand for hygiene products like vacuum cleaners (grown by 1.5x) and water purifiers (grown by 2x).

Within the segment, fully featured products like RO+ in water purifiers, 750 W in juicer-mixer-grinder, Touch button ICTs and branded products have indicated an upward trend. These products which were previously considered niche are now gaining momentum, with better selection becoming consumers’ priority. Roidmi vacuum cleaner and Livpure Linea Range of copper ROs are some popular products in the segment.

2. Productivity and functionality are the key requirements

Multitasking between work/studies and household chores has become a norm. To that end, there has been a surge in the demand for categories that are functional and help increase efficiency, with products such as dishwashers (grown by 5x) and microwaves (grown by 2.5x-3x) leading the pack.

Flipkart has seen over 4x increase in the overall smart kitchen segment, which is also dominated by other products like juicer-mixer-grinder, hand blender, kettles, oven-toaster-grill, induction cooktop and toaster. As consumers experiment in the kitchen, there has been a considerable rise in demand for convection microwaves, which helps with both grilling and baking.

With an increasing number of employees working from home and classes going online, there has been a significant appetite for products such as routers, UPS and inverters as people continue to work from home and also use it for entertainment purposes. The category overall has seen a growth of 125% between March and June with products such as routers and UPS having grown by 4x and 1.25x respectively. People are also seeking higher-end variants and premium products in these categories for better efficiency.

To enhance selection for its customers, Flipkart has significantly ramped up its offerings to serve the rising demand with the widest range of top-rated products across brands at affordable prices.

3. Bharat is witnessing a surge in demand

On the back of e-commerce providing better accessibility, there has been an uptake from tier-II and beyond cities for consumer durables with about a 2x increase in demand coming from these markets.

There has been a spike in demand from the Southern and Western parts of the country for products like microwaves and hand-blenders. There has also been a massive number of first-time customers, coming on the platform and making their first purchase in the kitchen appliances segment, especially from the East.

However, for certain products like vacuum cleaners, the demand is predominantly urban, originating more from tier-I and metros, with a growth of over 180%. Additionally, an evident surge in demand coming from tier-III cities and below is another noteworthy trend, with their shares going up to 46%.

4. Consumers are seeking value added services

Value added services and affordability constructs are making these products easy on the consumers’ pockets and minds. Flipkart offers NCEMI up to 24 months, EMI, Cardless Credit, Extended Warranty, Complete Appliance Protection and easy exchange on these products which have been witnessing nearly 20% growth in its adoption.

Flipkart brings festive cheer to Bharat with

 Flipkart brings festive cheer to Bharat with pan-India
supply chain expansion

• Expands last-mile reach with more than 3,000 facilities, strengthening presence in tier-III cities and beyond
• Infrastructure expansion will support new livelihood opportunities, help bring MSMEs, Sellers & Artisans closer to market

To cater to the growing needs of millions of new and existing consumers coming online and to support market access for lakhs of MSMEs, Sellers, Artisans & Kiranas, Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, has significantly expanded its supply chain across the country. This massive infrastructure  investment is aimed at bringing the festive cheer to Bharat consumers’ doorstep ahead of the festive season and BBD (the Big Billion Days) festive event. As part of this process, it has increased its last-mile reach with more than 3,000 facilities across the country to provide a fast and efficient e-commerce experience to consumers this festive period. This expansion will also help lakhs of sellers, MSMEs and artisans from smaller towns to connect with a pan-India consumer base through Flipkart’s supply chain.

Overall, Flipkart has added over 3.4 million square feet space across its supply chain assets including fulfillment centres, mother hubs and delivery centres throughout the country. These large fulfillment centres, spanning across an area of up to 5 lakh square feet each, are crucial to ensuring a seamless movement of goods between sellers and buyers. These fulfilment centres along with mother hubs or sortation centres and delivery centres also contribute to large scale creation of direct and indirect employment across the country. With this addition, the total warehousing space for Flipkart now totals to over 18 million square feet in addition to lakhs of square feet of assets from partner brands. This has been further strengthened with the onboarding of over 50,000 kiranas across the country which will help manage a higher number of shipments during the festive season.

 

Amitesh Jha, Senior Vice-President, Ekart and Marketplace, Flipkart said, “Flipkart has always been committed to bringing consumers online to ensure equitable distribution of the benefits of e-commerce. The pandemic has  accelerated the expansion of our supply chain across the country, particularly smaller cities, to meet growing demands for e-commerce services. Also, keeping in mind the growth of e-commerce over the next few years, this expansion will enable us to connect millions of consumers across the country with lakhs of sellers and artisans in a fast and efficient manner. During the festive season, this additional space and infrastructure investment will also boost local employment, particularly for people who went back to their hometowns due to the lockdown, and create opportunities for local businesses to scale up their operations significantly with Flipkart.”

 

This expanded network of supply chain assets is important to serve the millions of new consumers from smaller cities who are coming online to experience the value and convenience of e-commerce. It also helps strengthen Flipkart’s presence in metros as well as tier-II, III cities and beyond such as Ladakh, Bishnupur (Manipur), and Dimapur (Nagaland), while creating thousands of local job opportunities. This festive season, Flipkart is creating nearly 70,000 direct jobs and lakhs of indirect jobs through its pan-India supply chain.

 

The COVID-19 induced pandemic has brought about tectonic shifts in consumer purchase patterns and has accelerated sellers’ transition to online platforms across products categories as they look for an enhanced role in e-commerce in their lives. From essentials such as groceries to grooming products, WFH furniture to home appliances, e-commerce has become the preferred choice for consumers and sellers across the country. While metros accounted for a large percentage of this trend before the pandemic, the pandemic has accelerated the transition of consumers and sellers from tier-II and tier-III markets to e-commerce. Flipkart’s expansion of supply chain in these regions ahead of the festive season will create a win-win situation for consumers, sellers, artisans and other ecosystem partners.

 

The expansion of the supply chain is in line with the large-scale employment Flipkart is creating with the upcoming festive season and the Big Billion Days. This will also contribute to making e-commerce more inclusive with broader participation of women across Flipkart’s supply chain.

 

Ferrero India launches ‘Kinder Creamy’ in South India

                             Ferrero India launches ‘Kinder Creamy’ in South India, 

forays into kid’s snacking segment

 

Scoopable mini snack with right balance of goodness that mothers trust - a taste that kids enjoy

Ferrero India Private Limited, part of Ferrero Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturer of chocolate and confectionery products, has forayed into kids snacking segment with the launch of its new product innovation - ‘Kinder Creamy’. With this new offering Ferrero India aims to make deeper inroads into India’s chocolate category. An innovative addition under the umbrella brand Kinder - Kinder Creamy is a milky and crunchy mini snack rich in milk and with vitamin B12 that provides a multi-texture experience in every single scoop.

Kinder Creamy is a unique recipe which contains two delicious milky and cocoa creams topped with crispy rice with no preservatives or colorings & with high-quality ingredients. One Kinder Creamy (19g) contains 22% of milk and is a source of Vit B12. Each unit contains 0.20 µg (micrograms) of vitamin B12 which represent 20% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) set by the Indian Council of Medical Research. In a tub shape with a scooper, Kinder Creamy is a unique blend of cream & crunch with a ritual of peel, scoop & enjoy it.

Kinder Creamy has been introduced at an affordable price and costs INR 20. It is now available at modern trade retail outlets and traditional trade stores in the South region, additionally consumers will be able to buy the product on e-commerce platforms as well.

South is an important region for Ferrero India as it has a large market base. With Kinder Creamy, the company is taking a step forward towards strengthening its presence in the market which is driven by love and trust from consumers for the Kinder products. The expansion of the portfolio marks Ferrero’s entry into the fastest growing snacking category in India. Tapping the increasing opportunity, the brand aims to provide a solution to the never-ending debate between mothers and kids with a tasty snacking option to fulfill those in-between hunger moments. The yumminess of chocolate and goodness of milk in Kinder Creamy reassures mothers of the nutrients and right portion size for kid’s consumption.

Speaking on the occasion, Stefano Pelle, Managing Director of Ferrero India said, “With an endeavor to provide consumers an affordable and differentiated offering, we are expanding our Kinder portfolio with Kinder Creamy which is another successful ‘made-in-India’ initiative. India is one of the most important markets for Ferrero globally and the product is in line with our commitment to increase local manufacturing and sourcing of raw materials.”

“The new offering demonstrates the success and growth of our Kinder brand in the region. We are confident that Kinder Creamy will be well received by the consumers and drive both in-home and on-the-go consumption in the kids snacking segment.” he added.

With a legacy of introducing innovative offerings for consumers, Kinder Creamy is being manufactured at the plant at Baramati, near Pune with more than 80% of the raw materials sourced locally. The state-of-art R&D facility at the plant follows international standards and supports the quality check process for ingredient mix, material sourcing, packaging and product testing. In order to preserve the nutritional characteristics of the high-quality products, Ferrero applies consolidated quality and traceability best practices.

The launch of Kinder Creamy will be supported by a strong marketing communications campaign and media planning. Along with TV and digital presence, the brand will adopt a mass media approach as well. Further, retail channels will have point of sales material to educate the consumers on the product attributes.  A sampling program for trade partners & consumers at various outlets is being scheduled.