Flipkart Inc. is an Indian
e-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...
company, headquartered in
Bangalore
Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
, and incorporated in
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
as a
private limited company
A private limited company is any type of business entity in Privately held company, "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a Public company, publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Example ...
. The company initially focused on online book sales before expanding into other product categories such as
consumer electronics
Consumer electronics, also known as home electronics, are electronic devices intended for everyday household use. Consumer electronics include those used for entertainment, Communication, communications, and recreation. Historically, these prod ...
,
fashion, home
bravia bedsheets essentials, groceries, and lifestyle products.
In 2025, the company shifted domicile from Singapore to India.
The service competes primarily with
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
India and domestic rival Snapdeal. As of FY23, Flipkart held a 48% market share in the Indian e-commerce industry. Flipkart has a dominant position in the apparel segment, bolstered by its acquisition of
Myntra, and was described as being "neck and neck" with Amazon in the sale of electronics and
mobile phone
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
s.
History
2007–2010: Start-up phase
Flipkart was founded in October 2007 in
Bangalore
Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
by
Sachin Bansal and
Binny Bansal, alumni of the
IIT Delhi and former
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
employees. The company was started from a two-bedroom apartment in Koramangala, Bengaluru. The initial investment was provided by their families, which was INR 2 Lakh from each family. The website was kicked off in October 2007 and the company was only limited to selling books at that time country-wide shipping. Flipkart slowly grew in prominence and was receiving 100 orders per day by 2008.
Flipkart acquired WeRead in 2010 from Lulu.com that helped it build its foundational strength which was the digital retail of books. This space was otherwise only shared by very limited number of players at that time in the market, such as
Landmark and
Infibeam. Flipkart used aggressive discounts and focused on customer service to move towards a leadership position in the market. WeRead consisted of a large network of readers (~3 million) with around 60 million books. The platform also noted information that was user generated – such as people marking a book as favorite or leaving a review or rating. WeRead, because of its utility to community and independent nature maintained its brand identity even after acquisition
2011–2014: Growth, mergers and acquisitions
In 2011, Flipkart acquired the
digital distribution
Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of information or materials through digital platforms. The distribution of digital ...
business Mime360.com
and the digital content library of the
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
portal Chakpak.
Following the acquisition, Flipkart launched its
DRM-free Digital music store Flyte in 2012. Due to competition from free streaming sites, Flyte was unsuccessful and shut down in June 2013.
Mime360 was a content distributor that used HTTP-based encryption technology that allows for fast and secure data delivery. It distributed music, media and games using its distribution platform.
With its eyes on India's retail market, Flipkart acquired Letsbuy, an online electronics retailer,
in 2012, and
Myntra, an online fashion retailer, for US$280 million in May 2014. Myntra continues to operate alongside Flipkart as a standalone subsidiary focusing on separate market segments.
In October 2014, Flipkart reprised the ''Big Billion Days'' event as a multi-day event exclusive to the Flipkart app. Flipkart bolstered its supply chain and introduced more fulfillment centers to meet customer demand. Flipkart achieved a
gross merchandise volume of US$300 million during the event, with the largest volumes coming from fashion sales and the largest value coming from mobiles.
In 2014, Flipkart invested in Ngpay to strengthen the mobile payment services since there was an increased focus on mobile ecommerce; Flipkart reported that mobile ecommerce was contributing 50% of its sales. Investment in Ngpay was followed by Flipkart shutting Payzippy – the in-house payment gateway and merged it with Ngpay. The Ngpay mobile application could be used to buy services and products through the mobile phones.
2015–2018
In April 2015, Flipkart acquired Appiterate, a
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
-based
mobile marketing
Mobile marketing is a multi-channel Online advertising, online marketing technique focused at reaching a specific audience on their smartphones, feature phones, Tablet computer, tablets, or any other related devices through websites, e-mail, SMS ...
automation firm. Flipkart stated that it would use Appiterate's technology to enhance its mobile services. In December 2015, Flipkart purchased a stake of around 34% (at a deal of around $260 million) in the digital mapping provider
MapmyIndia. The company also invested in the
UPI
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...
mobile payments startup
PhonePe same year.
The two entities, PhonePe and Flipkart, separated as two different companies later.
In 2016, Flipkart acquired the online fashion retailer
Jabong.com from
Rocket Internet for US$70 million and in January 2017, Flipkart made a US$2 million investment in
TinyStep, a parenting information startup.
In 2017, Flipkart sold 1.3 million phones in 20 hours on 21 September during its ''Big Billion Days'' promotion, doubling the number sold on the first day of the same event in 2016. Flipkart held a 51% share of all Indian smartphone shipments in 2017, overtaking Amazon India (33%).
In April 2017,
eBay
eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
announced that it would sell its Indian
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
, eBay.in, to Flipkart and invest US$500 million in the company. While eBay suggested that the partnership would allow Flipkart to access eBay's network of international vendors, these plans never came to fruition.
In July 2017, Flipkart made an offer to acquire its main domestic competitor,
Snapdeal, for US$700 to 800 million. It was rejected by Snapdeal, which was seeking at least US$1 billion.
In August 2018, American retail chain
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
acquired a 77% controlling stake in Flipkart for
US$16 billion, valuing Flipkart at around US$20 billion. Flipkart is valued at $37.6 billion as of 2022.
In November 2018, Wal Mart increased the equity of Flipkart to 81.3%.
On 13 November 2018, Flipkart CEO
Binny Bansal resigned after facing an allegation of "serious personal misconduct". Walmart stated that "while the investigation did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant's assertions against Binny, it did reveal other lapses in judgment, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how Binny responded to the situation."
2019–2022
In July 2019, Flipkart launched Samarth program that supported local artisans, weavers, and craftspersons that traditionally are only able to sell locally. The Samarth program supports with onboarding and helping them sell their products online beyond their local markets, and across the country. Apart from the onboarding, the program also helps with other processes of selling online such as cataloging, warehousing support etc.
Flipkart invested US$4 million in the customer engagement and rewards platform EasyRewardz - a business-to-business loyalty management platform on 19 November 2019. The platform supports the management of loyalty points among banks and brands.
In 2020, Flipkart launched ''Flipkart Wholesale,'' a novel online marketplace that provided a digital platform for
''kiranas'' and
MSMEs. As a part of the same initiative around Flipkart Wholesale, Flipkart also acquired 100% stake in Walmart India Private Limited operating Best Price cash-and-carry business to further strengthen the wholesale capabilities.
In July 2020, Flipkart acquired a 27% stake in
Arvind Fashions Limited's newly formed subsidiary Arvind Youth Brands for US$35 million. Arvind Youth Brands owns the Flying Machine brand. Flipkart also rolled out Flipkart Quick, a hyperlocal 90-minute delivery service for product categories such as groceries, home accessories, mobile phones, stationery, and more.
In October 2020, Flipkart acquired a 7.8% stake in
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail for US$204 million. The following month, Flipkart acquired the intellectual property of gaming startup Mech Mocha for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition formed part of Flipkart's plans to gain and retain users by offering casual games. In November 2020, Flipkart acquired augmented reality company Scapic, which provides a suite of tools to create and publish augmented reality, virtual reality, and 3D content quickly and without coding.
As of 2021, the Flipkart app was available in 8 local Indian languages, Gujarati, Bengali, Odia, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi and Tamil.
In April 2021, Flipkart announced the acquisition of the travel booking portal
Cleartrip. Flipkart also entered the hotel industry for the Indian and global markets. The Flipkart Hotels uses Cleartrip API. Flipkart acquired Cleartrip's business in Middle East by signing a definitive agreement with
Wego - an online market place for travel that operates in middle east and North Africa. This included the sale of the website Flyin.com.
In July 2021, Flipkart launched its
social commerce marketplace called Shopsy, which allowed individuals and small businesses to direct sell and resell products to customers via social media channels.
In December 2021, Shopsy entered the grocery delivery segment in 700 cities across India.
Shopsy surpasses 200 million app downloads on its 2nd anniversary in the month of July in 2023 with more than 60% of users hailing from tier-3 markets and other cities.
In 2022, when PhonePe (acquired by Flipkart in 2015) moved its entire base to India, Flipkart separated the ownership of
PhonePe and shareholders in India and Singapore and the respective shareholders purchased shares of
PhonePe's India entity directly. It was announced that a cash payout of approximately $700 million was to be made to the former and current employees who were holding PhonePe's shares.
In April 2022, Flipkart launched its first grocery fulfilment center in
Northeast India
Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...
, based in
Guwahati
Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...
. The centre was reportedly women-run to promote inclusion of women in the Flipkart's supply chain and to support the career progression of Flipkart's female employees. The same month, the company established the Flipkart Foundation to support entrepreneurship and skill development within the underserved communities in India.
In 2022, Flipkart entered the
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and
Web3 segment by letting the Indian purchasers of
Nothing Phone (1) to get Nothing's NFT through the app called Nothing Community Dots. These NFTs use the Polygon blockchain to host it. The NFT drop happened at FireDrops - which was done on Flipkart's NFT marketplace, supported by GuardianLink. In October 2022, Flipkart also created a shopping platform that was metaverse-based, called Flipverse. The platform allows people to explore products and shop in a more interactive way. The Flipverse has been created through a partnership with a Polygon-incubated firm called eDAO, and Flipverse hopes to provide a similar experience to the actual mall-like shopping where people would be able to create their Avatars.
The Walmart Foundation and Flipkart Foundation donated INR 2 crore for the flood relief work in Assam in 2022.
2023–present
The e-commerce also started a virtual storefront that is dedicated to the academic needs of students named 'Flipkart Student's Club'. The 'Flipkart Green' venture was created in 2023 for customers who want to have a sustainable lifestyle by providing certified sustainable products.
Binny Bansal resigned from the executive team on 28 January 2024, and over the past few months, he has completely divested his stake. In the last year, Binny, along with Excel and
Tiger Global Management, sold their entire stake to
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
, resulting in Binny earning around 1.5 billion dollars. Walmart had acquired a 77% stake in Flipkart for 16 billion dollars in May 2018.
In March 2024, Flipkart launched its UPI services, Flipkart UPI, in partnership with
Axis Bank. In May 2024, it was reported that Google would invest US$350 million in the company.
In the space of Generative AI, Flipkart launched Flippi - an AI powered shopping assistant available in English that helps buyers make a shopping decision. Flipkart also launched Vibes - which integrates video content and online shopping - bringing a 'window-shopping' experience for the users. Both Flippi and Vibes are part of the enhanced 'Swipe Screen' experience initiative.
Gen Z accounts for more than 25 percent of Flipkart Fashion's customer base. Hence, in August 2023, Flipkart introduced an in-app fashion platform named Spoyl, targeted at Gen Z individuals. Spoyl features a unique unisex product navigation system that allows for gender-neutral browsing of styles.
In August 2024, Flipkart entered the quick-commerce market with the introduction of Flipkart Minutes. Initially launched in parts of
Bengaluru
Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
, Karnataka, the service aims to deliver a variety of products to customers within 10 to 15 minutes. In the same month, Flipkart-backed super.money launched its mobile application offering credit-first UPI services. During its beta phase, the app recorded nearly one million downloads and processed over ten million transactions. The platform integrated merchant partnerships, including with Flipkart and
Myntra, and featured cashback and reward mechanisms linked to user transactions.
In October 2024, Flipkart was among the initial partners in the launch of YouTube's Shopping affiliate programme in India. The programme allowed eligible video creators to link products from participating retailers, including Flipkart and
Myntra, in their content. Viewers could follow these links to make purchases on the respective websites.
Walmart investment
On 4 May 2018, it was reported that multinational retail conglomerate
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
had won a bidding war with Amazon to acquire a majority stake in Flipkart for US$15 billion. On 9 May 2018, Walmart officially announced its intent to acquire a 77% controlling stake in Flipkart for US$16 billion. Following the purchase, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal left the company. The remaining management team reported to
Marc Lore,
CEO of Walmart eCommerce US. Walmart president
Doug McMillon cited plans to help Flipkart with its sourcing and supply chain while tapping on its expertise to expand Walmart globally. Indian traders protested against the deal, considering it a threat to domestic business.
In a filing with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on 11 May 2018, Walmart stated that a condition of the deal prescribed the possibility that Flipkart's current minority shareholders "may require Flipkart to effect an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
following the fourth anniversary of the closing of the transactions at a valuation no less than that paid by Walmart".
Following the announcement of Walmart's deal,
eBay
eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
announced that it would sell its stake in Flipkart back to the company for approximately US$1.1 billion and relaunch its Indian operations. The company stated that "there is a huge growth potential for e-commerce in India and significant opportunity for multiple players to succeed in India's diverse, domestic market."
Softbank Group also sold its entire 20% stake to Walmart without disclosing the terms of the sale. Walmart's acquisition of a 77% stake in Flipkart was completed on 18 August 2018. Walmart also provided US$2 billion in equity funding to the company.
On 22 December 2023, Flipkart confirmed that US$600 million will be raised from Walmart out of its total fundraising plan of US$1 billion. The expected valuation of the deal will range from US$34 billion to US$37 billion. In 2022 after PhonePe's separation, Flipkart was last valued at around US$33 billion.
Business structure
According to a report in November 2014, Flipkart operated with a complex business structure that included nine firms, some registered in Singapore and some in India. In 2022, Flipkart co-founders sold WS Retail to a consortium of investors led by Rajeev Kuchhal. Flipkart's Indian entities are owned by Flipkart Pvt. Ltd., which is registered in Singapore. The Singapore-registered entity owns eight Indian companies, including Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd, the company that runs the e-commerce marketplace Flipkart.com, Flipkart India Pvt. Ltd, the wholesale business, and Flipkart Logistics Pvt. Ltd, which runs
Ekart (the internal logistics arm that can be used by other e-commerce players). Flipkart also started Flipkart Health+ (through an app) in 2021 which deals with providing medicines and health services through technology. This was started with the help of getting the majority share in Sastasundar Marketplace Limited - an existing company that already was providing online pharmacy services.
Notable companies in which Flipkart Group owns a controlling stake include:
Flipkart has made 22 acquisitions and 27 investments, spending over US$415 million for the acquisitions. Flipkart has invested in multiple sectors such as e-commerce, consumer electronics, local services and more. In 2022, it also revised its policies for sellers in an attempt to make it more seller-friendly. This included simplifying the rate card and reducing fee for return costs. In 2022, Flipkart reportedly hosted 1.1 million sellers.
Funding and Revenue
The initial development budget of Flipkart was .
It later raised funding from venture capital firms
Accel India (receiving US$1 million in funding in 2009) and
Tiger Global (US$10 million in 2010 and US$20 million in June 2011). On 24 August 2012, Flipkart announced the completion of its 4th round of funding, netting a total of US$150 million from MIH (part of the
Naspers Group) and
ICONIQ Capital. The company announced on 10 July 2013 that it had raised an additional US$200 million from existing investors, including Tiger Global, Naspers,
Accel Partners and Iconiq Capital.
Flipkart's reported sales were in the
FY2008–09,
in the FY2009–10 and in the FY2010–11.
Flipkart reported a loss of for the FY2012–13. In July 2013, Flipkart raised US$160 million from
private equity investors.
In October 2013, it was reported that Flipkart had raised an additional US$160 million from new investors
Dragoneer Investment Group,
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management,
Sofina SA, and
Vulcan Inc., with a share of the funding coming from existing investor Tiger Global.
On 26 May 2014, Flipkart announced that it had raised US$210 million from
Yuri Milner's
DST Global and its existing investors Tiger Global, Naspers, and Iconiq Capital.
On 29 July 2014, Flipkart announced that it raised US$1 billion from Tiger Global, Accel Partners, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and a new investor, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund
GIC.
In December 2014, after it received US$700 million from another round of funding, Flipkart had a market cap of US$11 billion.
On 20 December 2014, Flipkart announced its filing application with Singapore-based company regulator ACRA to become a public company. This announcement came after the company received US$700 million in long-term strategic investments from more than 50 Indian investors. The US$700 million in funding raised by Flipkart added new investors to the company's board, including Baillie Gifford, Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital, T. Rowe Price Associates, and Qatar Investment Authority. Its existing investors DST Global, GIC, ICONIQ Capital and Tiger Global also participated in this financing round. , Flipkart had raised US$550 million in additional funding from its existing investors in a deal that raised its total valuation to US$15 billion.
By August 2015, after raising another US$700 million, Flipkart had raised a total of US$3 billion over 12 rounds of funding from 16 major investors. In April 2017, Flipkart underwent another round of funding, receiving US$1.4 billion in funding from investors including
eBay
eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
, and
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. ( zh, s=腾讯, p=Téngxùn) is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimed ...
. On 10 August 2017,
SoftBank Vision Fund
The SoftBank Vision Fund is a venture capital fund founded in 2017. It is managed by SoftBank Investment Advisers, a subsidiary of the SoftBank Group. With over $100 billion in capital, it is the world's largest technology-focused investment ...
invested another US$2.5 billion in Flipkart.
On 19 September 2018, Flipkart Marketplace Singapore injected ₹3,463 crore into Flipkart Internet. The transaction was done in two tranches, according to regulatory filings.
In March 2021, it was reported that Flipkart was considering the possibility of going public through a merger with a
special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to speed up its listing process in the United States.
In 2022, the organization started Flipkart Ventures and created a venture fund of $100 million to be invested in other 6 start-ups selected for Flipkart Leap Ahead, an accelerator program. Each start up will be given an equity investment of up to $500,000. Once the first cohort of Flipkart Leap was completed, the program was split in two distinct programs known as Flipkart Leap Ahead (FLA) and Flipkart Leap Innovation Network (FLIN).
The total revenue in 2022 was that of ₹43,357 crore was reported for the past fiscal year of 2020–2021. This was 25% more than its revenue in the fiscal year of 2020. The losses were reported to have reduced by 23% to ₹2,445 crore with total expenses of ₹45,801.
In May 2024, Google invested almost $350 million into Flipkart.
Regulatory action and lawsuits
In November 2012, the Indian
Enforcement Directorate
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India. Established on 1 May 1956, it is responsible for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes. The ED operates under th ...
began investigating Flipkart for alleged violations of the
foreign direct investment regulations of the
Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999. On 30 November 2012, Flipkart's offices were raided by the Enforcement Directorate. Documents and computer hard drives were seized by the agency. In August 2014, the Enforcement Directorate claimed that it had found Flipkart to be in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act. The
Delhi High Court declared that several e-commerce firms, including Flipkart, had violated foreign investment regulations.
In January 2016, a public interest litigation hearing took place over Flipkart's alleged contravention of foreign investment norms. The court asked the
Reserve Bank of India
Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...
to provide the latest circular on foreign investment policy. The same month, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) clarified that it did not recognise the marketplace model of online retail. In February 2016, Health Minister
J. P. Nadda announced that the Maharashtra FDA had taken action against Flipkart, among others, for selling drugs without a valid license.
Consumer affairs
In 2022, a group of scammers was arrested by the police in Lucknow who used the platform to scam the customers. The scam included replacing the online ordered Apple products with bricks to cheat customers and company. Such scams have also been reported in the past where soaps were delivered instead of
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
on Flipkart and also on Amazon.
Flipkart Video
Flipkart Video was an India-based
OTT (Over the Top) video streaming platform operated by
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
-owned
Flipkart. It was launched in 2019, and has lined up content from partners like
Voot,
Arre,
Viu,
TVF, Pocket Aces' Dice Media and more.
In October 2019, it announced its first original series ''
Back Benchers'', a
quiz show hosted by
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
film producer and
director Farah Khan,
which features Bollywood celebrities as students and host Farah as the dean of the figurative school. Bollywood celebrities who appeared on the show are
Anil Kapoor,
Shilpa Shetty,
Kartik Aaryan,
Parineeti Chopra,
Ananya Pandey,
Bhumi Pednekar,
Tapsee Pannu,
Janhvi Kapoor,
Malaika Arora amongst others.
Overview
Flipkart Video is a free video streaming service that is available within the video section of the Flipkart app.
Flipkart has tied up with various production houses including Studio Next and Frames and Sikhya Productions to beef up its library of original series in various languages and genres for the Flipkart users.
Flipkart Video Original programming
Flipkart Video Originals features programming in the following genres:
action, comedy, romance, drama, horror, adventure and more.
Original series
Original short films
Flipkart Health+
Flipkart Health+ (formerly known as SastaSundar Healthbuddy Limited), is a e-commerce platform dealing in healthcare,
online pharmacy,
diagnostics and
e-consultation in India.
The company was co-founded in 2013, by Banwari Lal Mittal and Ravi Kant Sharma with the name SastaSundar Healthbuddy in Kolkata.
On 1 April 2022
Flipkart acquired a majority stake in SastaSundar making it a
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
-owned company.
History
SastaSundar Healthbuddy Limited, started as an online pharmacy in 2013. The company is based out of
Kolkata
Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
, India.
The company is a subsidiary of SastaSundar Ventures Limited, established in 2014. As per media reports, the company operates over 200 stores in India.
Flipkart health+ appoints Prashant Jhaveri as
CEO on March 15, 2022.
As of now the Flipkart Health+ Project seem to be defunct. Thei
websiteisn't working, the Flipkart Health+ App has been withdrawn from the Google Playstore and Flipkart Website doesn't show any links to Heath+.
Flipkart Health+ was plagued with inferior service quality, drug stocking issues and back-end bugs from the beginning, all these, along with several prevailing strong players in the market might have led to their downfall.
In November 2021, Flipkart Health acquired Sastasundar Healthbuddy for undisclosed sum.
Funding
They received ₹33.4 crore funding from Japan-based pharmaceutical company
Rohto Pharmaceutical.
In Aug 2019,
Mitsubishi Corporation invested ₹100 crore in the company.
Criticism
On 13 September 2014, a Flipkart deliveryman allegedly molested a housemaid in
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. The housemaid's employer sued Flipkart for this incident, citing the need for regulations to make offline delivery services safer.
In 2014, competitors such as
Future Group (owner of retail chain
Big Bazaar at that time) filed complaints with India's
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, alleging that Flipkart's Big Billion Days discounts undercut prices in a manner predatory to other retailers. The ministry stated that it would look into the complaints.
In April 2015, Flipkart faced criticism for being a launch partner in the
Airtel Zero program. Critics alleged that the
zero-rating scheme violated the principles of
net neutrality
Net neutrality, sometimes referred to as network neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering User (computing), users and online content providers consistent tra ...
. Flipkart later pulled out of the project.
In 2015, around 400 delivery executives working with
eKart, the logistics arm of Flipkart, went
on strike to protest poor working conditions. Complaints included seven-day workweeks, extended hours, and a lack of clean toilets and medical assistance for bike riders involved in accidents. In 2016, delivery executive Nanjunda Swamy was allegedly murdered by a customer who did not have enough money to pay for a product. In response, Flipkart launched a safety initiative -'Project Nanjunda', named after the deceased executive. This included an SOS button in the mobile app (called the Nanjunda button) that could be used by field executives in case of emergencies.
Vendors on Flipkart have faced several challenges while doing business on the company's marketplace, to the extent that some of them have quit the portal. Some of these challenges include Flipkart's alleged unfair policies towards sellers, the lack of a competent logistics service, and customer returns that are a result of
consumer fraud.
Awards and recognition
*
Sachin Bansal was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year, 2012–13 from ''
The Economic Times
''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. Owned by The Times Group, ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961 and it is sold in all major cities in India. As of 2012, it is the world's secon ...
'', a leading Indian economic daily newspaper.
* In September 2015, the two founders entered
''Forbes India'' richest Indian by year, debuting in the 86th position with a net worth of US$1.3 billion each.
* In April 2016, Sachin and
Binny Bansal were named to ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine's annual list of the
100 Most Influential People in the World.
* Flipkart was reported to be at the top in the annual Fairwork India Ratings 2021 - which is a 10-point system that creates a score based on fair pay, conditions, contracts, management, and representation. A total of 11 platforms were evaluated by a consortium of the Centre for IT and Public Policy (CITAPP), International
IIIT Bangalore and the global Fairwork network. The methodology included qualitative interviews with 19-20 workers in Delhi and Bangalore.
See also
*
E-commerce in India
*
Online shopping
Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of th ...
References
External links
*
{{authority control, state=expanded
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2018 mergers and acquisitions
Book selling websites
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Indian brands
Indian companies established in 2007
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