Flipkart's 10th Anniversary celebrations: More sale events & private label push

While Flipkart surely has a lot to cheer in the wake of its ongoing funding round, the e-commerce giant is also gearing up for its 10th-anniversary celebrations. The startup is planning some big sale days in the coming months and bigger private label push.

Speaking with Livemint, Flipkart chief operating officer Nitin Seth said it was launching a new campaign called the Big 10 to mark its anniversary, as part of which the online retailer plans to host a slew of events for its customers, home-grown start-ups and other stakeholders.

Besides the sale events, India's largest e-tailer is also pushing ahead aggressively with its venture into private labels, which typically offers higher margins for online retailers. “We are launching new products (on the private label side) almost on a fortnightly basis. There are 5-6 verticals that now have private label products—our approach is to do it vertical by vertical,” said Seth. “There is a lot of focus around accessories, such as mobile chargers, mobile cases and covers, bedsheets, etc.,— there are 6-7 categories that we are already playing in,” he added.

Apparently, Flipkart will soon launch private labels in larger, flagship categories such as large appliances, and its soon-to-be-launched groceries and furniture categories. The new CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy has tasked key executives to build out a potential billion-dollar business with private labels.

Recently, Bloomberg reported that Flipkart has raised $1 billion from Microsoft, eBay and Tencent Holdings and further aimed to raise another $1 billion in next few months.