One in every five smartphones sold in India is through Flipkart: Binny Bansal

The e-commerce major sells 15 million units a month, said its co-founder

Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal on Wednesday said the online marketplace sells one in every five smartphones that are being sold in the country currently.

"We are the biggest retailer for fashion and mobile phones. We sell one in every five smartphones that are being sold in the country now. Overall, we do (sell) about 15 million units a month," Bansal said on the sidelines of an event in Bengaluru.

India has about 150 million smartphone users currently. Internet users in the country has been calculated at 350 million by the first half of 2015, of which 65 per cent use mobile to access internet. According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), total internet users in India are expected to be 500 million by 2017, of which smartphone data users would be 490 million.

Bansal said the e-tailer is building a new campus in Bengaluru, which would be completed in about two years. The company currently has two campuses in the city. "As we continue to scale up, we are looking to strengthen our supply chain deeply, by integrating it with technology," said Bansal, who is also the chief operating officer at Flipkart.

According to an insight by Flipkart looking at 50 million shoppers on its site, electronic goods and mobiles are the top two categories for shoppers online.

People inhabiting National Capital Region shop the most followed by Bengaluru, where Flipkart is based , he said. Flipkart said 69 per cent were male shoppers and over half of the shoppers online were office goers. Most shoppers fell in the age group between 25 and 34.

Lifestyle accessories and women apparel are the other top categories. Flipkart looked at data of its shoppers online between January 1 and December 14, the company said in a statement.

"2015 is truly the year of the digital Indian consumer," said Ankit Nagori, chief business officer of Flipkart. "What is particularly gratifying to note is that Flipkart is taking the lead in introducing the ease and convenience of online shopping to millions of Indians in Tier-2, Tier-3 towns, and in rural areas"

Among the tier I cities, Pune is followed by Coimbatore, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Bhubaneshwar is the only city from East India to feature in this list, it said. Mangaluru and Mysore topped the list in tier II cities, followed by Salem and Guntur.