Flipkart to foray into furniture biz

Punjab and Haryana rank in the top 10 while Chandigarh is amongst the top 15 cities in terms of sales generated through mobile channel

Flipkart, one of the leading e-commerce players in India, would soon foray into furniture and large electrical appliance segment.

According to Ravi Arora, senior vice-president, marketing, the growing awareness about the online shopping and its benefits in terms of discounts among consumers has mobilised a huge customer base for e-commerce companies.

The company has a tie-up with the Indian Postal Services to deliver the shipments in the hinterland.

The company delivers 100,000 shipments a day, and the buyers in rural and semi-urban areas bring a substantial business to the company.

The fashion and lifestyle products were the best sellers on Flipkart followed by mobile hand-sets and books.

Mobile commerce is going to be the next big thing in online shopping. On flipkart.com, Punjab and Haryana rank amongst the top 10 states while Chandigarh is amongst the top 15 cities in terms of sales generated through the mobile channel. In Chandigarh, over 30 per cent of total visitors to flipkart.com come through mobile.

The top product categories among the mobile shoppers in Chandigarh are books, mobiles, mobile accessories and footwear.

He added that with the smart phones getting cheaper, the e-commerce industry has got an impetus. The ease and convenience of being able to shop on-the-go without needing access to a PC is driving the popularity of e-commerce today. And, with easy payment options like cash-on-delivery, mobile shopping is now the preferred way to shop for a growing base of customers, he added.

A host of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)in the region, according to Arora collaborated with Flipkart to sell their products pan-India. Over 1,500 SMEs have been selling products through Flipkart.

The company delisted 56 sellers in the previous year on the basis of consumer reviews.