Flipkart’s Independence Day sale sees 54% rise in number of sellers

Flipkart on Friday said the company’s five-day Independence Day sale witnessed a 54% increase in the number of transacting sellers compared to the year-ago period, led by Tier- II cities and beyond. The Walmart-backed e-commerce firm has claimed to have onboarded nearly 8,000 new sellers on its marketplace since the lockdown, over 450 of whom earned in lakhs during the sale that ended on August 10.

Flipkart added sellers from smaller towns and cities during the sale, spreading its footprint to places like Dharuhera, Datia, Dholpur, Purnia and Motihari, the company said in a statement. Consumer demand was driven by categories like grooming, household items, personal healthcare, mobile protection and select womenswear, among others.

Earlier this week, rival Amazon said the firm’s Prime Day sale in India this year was the biggest ever for small businesses, that saw the participation of over 91,000 small and medium businesses (SMBs). Flipkart and Amazon that jointly lead the domestic e-commerce space are building on their network of SMBs to stimulate growth. Tier- II cities and beyond are estimated to drive the next phase of expansion for online firms. Cheap data and a rapidly advancing digital infrastructure have helped both consumers and sellers from small cities go online.

Last month, Flipkart said the company’s Samarth programme, aimed to support small businesses, had seen nearly four times quarter-on-quarter growth since its launch last year. Earlier this year, Amazon announced an incremental investment of $1billion in India, bulk of which will be used to digitise small and medium sellers.

The e-commerce sector is bracing up for stiff competition in the coming days as JioMart is set to expand its offerings beyond grocery.