Flipkart recently acquired eBay India in April of this year. It has drastically improved Flipkart’s valuation in India. Now, riding on the momentum of this acquisition, Flipkart has launched ‘Flipkart Global’ program in India.
Partnering with eBay to launch this program, Flipkart will provide a global platform to sellers from India in almost 190 countries abroad. This means that someone sitting anywhere in the world, will be able to purchase a product from India thanks to Flipkart and eBay.
Some time back, Amazon had launched a similar program that allowed Indian sellers to sell their products in almost 180 countries. Flipkart is taking on Amazon with Flipkart Global, to leverage its eBay India acquisition and to enable more sellers to sell their products online in other countries.
Flipkart Global: A Push For ‘Made In India’
This program is also aiming to push ‘Made in India’ products in the global markets. Since a lot of these products will be sold in both developed and developing nations, they will be more specific to the NRIs staying abroad.
Flipkart says that Flipkart Global will have sarees, jewellery, cosmetics, accessories and handicrafts from India. However, this program is available to only those sellers who are categorized in the ‘Gold’ category.
“This is a large opportunity for us. We are looking to build on it with our massive seller base, the expertise of eBay India along with Flipkart’s technology and marketplace strength. While customers globally will shop through eBay’s platform, Flipkart will fulfil the orders in partnership with carriers.” Anil Goteti, Head of marketplace at Flipkart, said.
Recently, Flipkart launched its Billion brand, which is a ‘Made in India’ and ‘Made for India’ brand. It is also moving towards launching its own private labels, like Divastri. With all these made in India products specifically made for Indians, the company is looking to create an easily accessible market in other countries as well.
“Sellers who manufacture in India can leverage the global platform with a unique value proposition. If sellers are sourcing from other countries such as China, they may not be able to compete with sellers already selling globally,” said Navin Mistry, India business head, eBay.
Early Days
It remains to be seen how shipping and fulfilment of orders will be done by Flipkart and eBay. They’ll surely have set up local carriers and have tie-ups with local postal deliveries for the same.
Flipkart is not just a local marketplace anymore, it has gone global in partnership with eBay. Its valuation and employees are strong indicators of the fact. While Flipkart might not be as large as Amazon yet, it can definitely work towards bigger aspirations on a global stage.