Flipkart eyes doubling revenue from exclusive brands during BBD sale

The firm expects the festive season over the next two months to drive the share to 50%

As it gears up for the Big Billion Days (BBD) sale next month ahead of the festive season, Flipkart Fashion, the fashion arm of homegrown e-commerce major Flipkart, is lining up over 25 exclusive brands and collections on the platform.

With this, the company expects the exclusive brands to account for around 20 per cent of its total fashion sales during the BBD as compared to around 11 per cent now, said Rishi Vasudev, head of Flipkart Fashion. 

Flipkart Fashion currently holds around 35 per cent of the total online fashion market in India, and is growing at 60 per cent month on month. The company expects the festive season over the next two months to drive the share to around 50 per cent during the peak. “The spike in festive season sales would help to increase our share in online fashion space to 40 per cent for the full year,” added Vasudev. One of the two fashion items sold during the October-November period will be on Flipkart Fashion, he added.

Some of the new brand launches in the pipeline are Denizen from Levi’s, Wrangler 20x in the denims segment, Chemistry accessories, and Kamiliant by American Tourister in the luggage segment. Flipkart Fashion currently has over 20 exclusive brands and collections on its platform including Ed Hardy shoes, Adidas, Reebok, Solly Jeans and Provogue.

The online fashion market in India, which currently stands at around $4 billion (Rs 260 billion), is estimated to touch $15 billion (Rs 975 billion) in five years.

Continuing to bet on private labels, the fashion etailer is also launching a new label in women’s wear next month. Currently, Flipkart Fashion has five brands under the private labels umbrella including women’s ethnic brand Divastri and Anmi, menswear brand Metronaut and kids brand Miss & Chief.

Vasudev said, the private label business is also scaling up well with over 8-10 per cent share in the price segment and core categories of operation.

During the Diwali season, which is considered the most auspicious period of the year for buying, online marketplaces are seen getting into neck and neck competition offering discounts, special offers and fast deliveries to capture a bigger slice of the market. According to a Redseer Consulting report, sales of online retailers are expected to nearly double to $2.5 billion to $3 billion during the five-day festive season this year from $1.5 billion last year.  

Amazon India is also gearing up for the sale season and has launched a Hindi interface of its website targeting tier II and tier III cities. This desi version of Amazon has been launched keeping in mind the next 100 million online buyers who will mostly be from semi-urban and rural regions.