As India’s ecommerce giants are set to battle it out in the mega online sale of the season that is about to begin, Flipkart is betting on private labels to take it ahead of rival Amazon. As per an Economic Times report, Flipkart’s private label business Flipkart SmartBuy will introduce new labels for heavy and bulky goods, staples and furniture.
The label which was launched in December 2016, will be expanded to 35 categories by July-August, which the company considers ‘high involvement’ categories.
Speaking to ET, Adarsh Menon, head of private labels at Flipkart said that the company wants to make SmartBuy an umbrella brand across all daily-use categories. “In the second growth phase for SmartBuy, we have introduced small kitchen appliances, trimmers, dryers and straighteners in the personal care category. The brand will be live in 20 categories for the Big 10 sale. We started with two sellers and have expanded our bedsheet category to manufacturers in tier-II hubs such as Ahmedabad, Surat and others,” he added.
After the launch of a new category, the marketplace reaches out to all sellers with a base line of good quality products to retail it from Flipkart under licensing agreement, as per the ET report.
Menon says that sellers that are retailing the SmartBuy brand are starting to see additional 500 basis points in profits across categories. “SmartBuy is either the largest or among the top four brands in terms of share,” he added.
Furniture will be sources from Malaysia, as per the report. For other categories, some of the sourcing is done from China and some from India. Flipkart says that location is not a concern but will not compromise about working with suppliers.
Private labels seem to be one way forward for online marketplaces to take their business to the next level. Rival marketplace Amazon India also launched its private apparel label in September 2016. This label now has FMCG, kitchen appliances and products and décor amongst other verticals. However, its global parent is a strong player in terms of private label across daily use categories in North America.
Flipkart will kick off its Big 10 sale to celebrate its10th-anniversary. The five-day sale will start from May 14 and will see massive discounts across fashion accessories, smartphones, electronics, home decor and home appliances.
Amazon too, will be launching its five-day Great India Sale on May. Amazon will be giving up to 60% discounts across brands like Bajaj, Prestige and Fastrack, Adidas, Samsung, LG and more