Not owning a credit card will not have to mean no EMI purchases for customers on Flipkart. For its upcoming Big billion Day sale, Flipkart will allow buyers to avail EMIs through their debit cards in an attempt to attract as many customers as possible and boost its revenues during its flagship sale.
According to a report in the Times of India, the company has created a 'white list' of users, based on its internal data, who will be given this option.
Flipkart is working with State Bank of India and Axis Bank to test the new service. It will first be rolled out for high value purchases like large appliances and eventually be extended to mid to high value products across other categories as well.
Flipkart says that the idea of introducing this option came from the fact that the number of debit cards vastly outnumbered credit cards in India. As per the TOI report, the Reserve Bank of India data shows there were 79.38 crore debit card holders in the country as of June 2017, while credit card numbers stood at 3.14 crore.
"Based on past purchases and other data points we have a set of customers who we can offer EMIs to through their debit cards. We saw that this population of buyers was not being able to shop for high value products as they did not have credit cards. With this plan about to be introduced they can opt for higher priced items which shall push our overall sales volumes up," Sandeep Karwa, head of large appliances for Flipkart, told TOI.
This new option comes as Flipkart prepares to roll out its big ban six week ad campaign for large appliances, a category it hopes to grow and make as strong as its biggest categories like smartphones.
Flipkart is also ramping up its logistics and delivery arms and is setting up nine warehouses for large appliances and white goods. The idea is to have faster delivery and installation of large appliances.
TOI reports that Flipkart aims to get 15-20% of its overall sales from large appliances this year, which will take its overall market share to 80% by end of the year with the Big Billion Day sale being a major booster. Appliances currently have an estimated 55-60% share for Flipkart while Amazon has around 40% share.