TV sticks, laptops to launch after Flipkart private labels meet sale target

The Walmart-owned company's private label brands sold Rs 170 crore in recently concluded Big Billion Days sale

Flipkart is learnt to be looking at expanding its private labels range with products like TV sticks, smartwatch-fitness trackers and laptops, after seeing strong performance of its own brands in the just-concluded Big Billion Days (BBD) sale.

During the six-day sale, the Walmart-owned company’s own brands — which include MarQ, SmartBuy, and Perfect Homes — sold over Rs 170 crore ($24 million) in total value, close to double, when compared to the 2018 BBD comparable numbers of Rs 90 crore, said sources privy to these numbers.

This figure is also said to be ahead of the company’s internal target of Rs 165 crore. The growth of private labels in BBD 2019 was driven by higher range in all categories and aggressive marketing.

According to sources, the products that did well include MarQ washing machines, which sold over Rs 20 crore inventory, sports items under Adrenex, which sold over Rs 1.2 crore, and private label furniture, which was 50 per cent of all furniture sold through Flipkart. On the other hand, the company’s recently launched computers — CPUs branded Flipkart Panther — sold only three units, according to the sources cited above.

Flipkart did not immediately reply to a request for comment on this story.

Over the past year, Flipkart has extensively diversified its private label offerings. Currently, several new launches, especially in the electronics category, are in the pipeline. These are likely to be rolled out in six to eight months.

The Bengaluru-based company is said to be working on a smartwatch-fitness tracker. A prototype is currently under testing.

Oddly enough, Flipkart and smartwatch maker GOQii locked horns in a legal tussle recently when the latter alleged that Flipkart was offering unsustainable discounts on GOQii products on the marketplace. The dispute was later settled.

Flipkart is also working on a version of a TV stick, much like Amazon’s Fire TV stick. A TV stick is an HDMI-based plug-and-play device that offers access to third-party video streaming services over the internet on a TV. The product will be bundled with Flipkart’s recently announced video streaming service, where it plans aggregate content from various content makers.

Flipkart is also working on a range on self-branded laptops, said sources. The gestation period for laptops is usually higher, as it requires integrations and several approvals for the operating system and hardware. The company is also working on a tablet, gaming joystick, and air purifiers. All these products are likely to be launched under the MarQ brand.