Flipkart's hyper-value e-commerce platform, Shopsy, is making a deliberate push into India's underserved rural markets, where millions of consumers are shopping online for the first time. Kapil Thirani, vice president at Shopsy and Flipkart Marketplace, says the company's priority is deepening its reach in Tier-2, -3 and -4 cities rather than expanding geographically. The strategy comes as competition in India's value-commerce segment intensifies, with players like Meesho and Amazon. In a video interview with Peerzada Abrar, Thirani outlines how zero-commission seller economics, quality controls and Gen Z-oriented discovery are shaping Shopsy's next phase of growth. Edited excerpts.
Q: Shopsy reported 90 per cent repeat buyer contribution and strong growth from Tier 2–4 cities during its recent festive season. What drove that?
We generally start the festive season a bit earlier, around two to three weeks before other major portals open up. One key question is where demand is coming from, and more than 70 per cent is from non-metros, especially Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Earlier, the platform was largely fashion-led, but now we're seeing growing interest across general merchandise, home categories, fashion and electronics. All these categories have started performing strongly. In terms of category-wise growth, nuts and dry fruits have seen especially strong traction during the festive season. With supply coming from regions like Jodhpur, Delhi, and the Khari Baoli area, we're able to connect MSMEs directly with consumers, giving them an authentic festive experience. This vertical has seen nearly 3x growth and is performing exceptionally well. In four years, we have encompassed 450 million app downloads across Bharat, and we will continue to take steps to see this scale go deeper.
Q: What prompted the zero-commission decision, and what early traction are you seeing on the seller and consumer side?
I think zero commission is absolutely the right thing to do for sellers for multiple reasons. Sellers are able to pass on those benefits to end consumers, consumers then end up buying more, and overall growth improves for sellers. Secondly, there are many products that, earlier, were not viable to sell on e-commerce because the cost of doing business was high. That cost has now come down significantly, and we're seeing clear benefits from that. Zero commission has really helped the MSME sector. In terms of early traction, the number of sellers adding new selections has gone up by almost 3x. The number of selections being added to the platform has nearly doubled when you compare pre-November 19 and post-November 19.
Q: If you're not taking commissions, where does Shopsy's revenue come from?
It's absolutely aligned with our goal of becoming a profitable business. There are multiple revenue sources, especially advertising. Many sellers want empowerment in terms of product discovery, so they actively use our ads platform. In addition, there is revenue from shipping, where certain charges are borne by end consumers.
Q: What is driving younger consumers toward Shopsy rather than established platforms?
Gen Z as a segment is consistently growing and will become the go-to consumer group for the country in the long run. What Gen Z really wants is fresh trends and the right selection at the right time, and that's exactly what Shopsy is trying to solve for. The core principle is simple: offer a wide range of selection and ensure the value is right. It's not that Gen Z doesn't want to spend, they just want fair pricing. They don't want inflated prices driven by unnecessary mark-ups or branding premiums - they want the right value for the product, and that's what we aim to deliver.
Q: What specifically drove repeat-purchase rates during the festive season?
The best part is that after the zero-commission rollout, our retention rates have gone up significantly, and repeat purchases are at an all-time high. This is driven by the value and selection we're able to offer. What was especially encouraging during the festive period is that the inherent demand has continued even after the rate-card changes.
Q: How does Shopsy's quality-control model work for non-branded products?
Yes, (it does) quite a lot. There is a strong underlying model around what we call a listing quality score. This score evaluates product quality for every listing a seller creates. Quality is measured using two key signals: returns and customer ratings. We run a model that computes a distinct quality score based on these signals, and detailed feedback is shared with sellers. For example, if customers repeatedly mention that a particular size runs small, sellers adjust the sizing sometimes even making a slightly larger fit for the same labeled size. This kind of refinement happens continuously.
Q: Why does Flipkart run Shopsy as a separate app, and what is its core differentiation beyond zero commission?
We have a separate app for Shopsy, a deliberate move, because the hypervalue commerce customer is fundamentally different from the core Flipkart shopper. This is a different use case from Flipkart's primary app, which serves a more digitally mature, intent-driven audience. Shopsy is differentiated by zero commission across the platform, and enabling hypervalue e-commerce backed by Flipkart's trusted supply chain and quality checks. Rather than competing only on price, we are focused on expanding access, building selection, boosting trust, and driving repeat usage in Tier-3 and -4 markets. The hypervalue market is still in an expansion phase rather than a zero-sum one. India is adding millions of new internet users every year, many of whom are shopping online for the first time.
Q: What are Shopsy's expansion priorities over the next two to three years?
Shopsy's focus over the next 2–3 years is depth over breadth. We are going deeper across geographies, categories, and products. A critical pillar of our expansion is enabling and scaling our seller base within emerging supply clusters. We are seeing significant momentum from newer manufacturing centers such as Shantipur, Karur, Salem, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jalandhar, and Ludhiana. These regions are becoming increasingly important to how assortments are built on the platform, and we will invest further in onboarding, training and supporting sellers from these clusters scale nationally.
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