Everyone wants a slice of the booming on-demand video market in India, and even the mighty Walmart couldn’t resist.
In an interesting move, it has been revealed that Walmart-owned Flipkart will launch a video streaming service in India, to challenge the likes of Amazon Prime and Netflix.
However, there is a catch here.
Flipkart’s Video Streaming Service In India
Just like Amazon Prime loyalty program, Flipkart runs its own loyalty program called Flipkart Plus.
As per a report, Flipkart will soon offer on-demand video streaming service, under the Flipkart Plus loyalty program.
This service is expected to start by Diwali, which is the peak shopping season in the country.
There has been no confirmation from Flipkart on this development.
2 Ways Flipkart’s Video Streaming Service Will Be Different
- Flipkart will not produce their own content, but rather, they will source content from production houses such as Disney and Balaji Telefilms.
This means that Walmart and Flipkart will not create their own production house, as of now. Interestingly, Walmart already owns an on-demand video streaming service in the US, called Vudu, which also produces original content. Will this expand to India? We are waiting for more details..
- You cannot just pay and enter the Flipkart Plus loyalty program, and access on-demand video content. You will need to earn it. This can be one major differentiator when it comes to Amazon Prime and Flipkart Plus.
To become part of Flipkart Plus loyalty program, users need to spend money on the shopping portal and earn coins.
For every Rs 100 spent, users will get 2 coins. You can only enter the Flipkart Plus loyalty program when you get 300 coins.
This means, that Flipkart’s on-demand video service and the loyalty program, in general, has been created for serving the loyal users, and not bringing in new users via free services. A very interesting marketing move, indeed.
Besides, there will be no free shipping for Flipkart Plus members: Free shipping is available, only for some products.
On-Demand Video Market In India Warms Up
The ever-expanding on-demand video content market in India is right now facing some cut-throat competition, and the entry of Flipkart into the segment will further warm up the market.
Netflix and Amazon Prime are fighting it out for supremacy, but the #1 player in India is Hotstar right now, with smaller players like Jio Movies, Alt Balaji and Zee5 gradually picking up a stake.
$500 million worth on-demand video market in India is expected to become 10-times bigger by 2023. site:tr
It will be interesting to observe how Flipkart’s presence changes the market dynamics.
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