Flipkart doubles seller additions ahead of BigBillionDays sale next month

Flipkart revised its rate card in August; claims driving maximum profits for sellers in India

Post Walmart’s acquisition of 77 per cent stake in Flipkart, the Indian e-commerce giant says it is seeing higher level of interest from sellers to register themselves onto its platform. According to the Bengaluru-based firm, its rate of addition of new sellers has doubled during the last six months period, in the run up to its BigBillionDays sale next month.

"We have one lakh plus registered sellers. In the last six months, we have (seen) new sellers going live on Flipkart doubling (in number)," said Nishant Gupta, Senior Director Marketplace at Flipkart. While the addition of sellers has happened across the board, categories like fashion, home-related segments have seen most additions.

"Entire fashion category has seen a phenomenal growth. In fashion, you have clothing, accessories, footwear. Then, we have also seen growth in home-related segments like furnishings, decor and household items. Even general merchandise items like toys and baby products have seen a lot of growth," added Gupta.

Flipkart, which will hold its BigBillionDays (BBD) sale in October, is hopeful of witnessing higher gross merchandise value (GMV) this festive season. The company says, most sellers on its platform saw a growth between 2.5 times to six times during its last BBD sale and are hoping to better that number this year.

According to the e-commerce firm, it has the lowest rate card in the market, which enables suppliers to make the highest profit out of their supplies in Flipkart. In August, the company had adjusted commissions it pays to sellers though it was meant for low-value items such as mobile accessories, sunglasses, etc. 

Gupta said, the company has reduced its fixed fee, courier charges which has made it a lot more lucrative for sellers. 

As the company is preparing for next festive sales, it is also streamlining its supply chain network for faster delivery of items to customers. As is the case these days, sellers are being instructed to stock a specific number of items across Flipkart’s several warehouses, based on the demand forecast made by the company.

"We are using technology not only in our fulfilment centres but also for at the places of the suppliers. We have a care touch model where a dedicated supply manager is assigned to certain priority sellers," Gupta added.