Flipkart to use influencers for live commerce rush

Flipkart, India’s e-commerce player, has joined the live commerce rush and taken an even larger bite out of the online retail market, by becoming a part of eBay. 

Prior to Flipkart’s foray, ecommerce players like Meesho, Myntra, Nykaa and short video platform Roposo had also been using influencer-led live commerce to enhance engagement and drive sales on their platforms. 

The acquisition enables it to sell products that are unavailable on any other marketplace in India and eventually employ eBay’s Pay-by-Pay model with ease. This leaves both companies with huge opportunities to take on Amazon in a fair fight amid increasing global competition. 

The deal will also help it further increase its market share by providing the platform with a significant amount of capital. 

According to an official announcement by eBay, “eBay and Flipkart have agreed to pursue a strategic relationship that will ultimately enable commerce at scale for hundreds of millions of consumers in India. Flipkart will be able to use eBay’s technology and expertise to achieve this goal.” 

All in all, the deal is a win-win both for Flipkart and eBay; and it is clear that the jury has given its verdict regarding the two companies fair play. So far, no other player has been able to match Amazon’s “fly by night” tactics. The acquisition of Flipkart will ensure that e-commerce giant eBay stays one step ahead when it comes to offering fructifying online services. 

Flipkart was founded in 2007 by Sachin and Binny Bansal, both alumni of IIT Delhi, and is India’s leading e-commerce marketplace. Flipkart is the market leader in Indian e-commerce space with a market share of a whopping 44 per cent. eBay, on the other hand, is a global online marketplace that facilitates trade of goods across the world. 

In just one year, Flipkart has turned into a serious player in the e-commerce market. It is also seen as another Amazon-like giant. But of late, the company has done something quite unexpected and that is to target micro-influencers or indies in its marketing strategy. The reason? To drive sales without being linked with any influencer agency or campaign management platform. 

Already, in its recent campaign ‘IndieRush’ Flipkart has partnered with 31 small and medium-sized influencers who have been driving the product sales for their respective followers. The idea behind this partnership is to make the most of indies and micro-influencers who can work on their social media accounts to promote any product without spending a lot of money or time. 

It has been doing the same thing in the past 16 months and it’s quite a hit. The company has already partnered with over 50 such influencers and these people deliver a good number of sales on their own. 

Considering Flipkart’s growth rate, it is not surprising why the company likes to go indie and micro-influencer for its marketing campaign. The e-commerce market is highly competitive and only those who spend more on advertising get more sales. With the rise of a number of e-commerce companies in the country, Flipkart is trying to make its place better in this highly competitive online market. 

Therefore, it is not surprising that it is counting on influencers and micro-influencers. But it’s worth mentioning that most of Flipkart’s new influencer partnerships are only for product promotion; these people do not sell the product for themselves and get paid by Flipkart only when they are able to sell more than expected. 

Edited By : Ahana Banerjee

Published By : K. Bindhiya Prarthana