Flipkart Still Skeptical about Going App-Only, Here's why

BANGALORE: India’s leading ecommerce giant, Flipkart, had plans of turning ‘app-only’ in September this year; however, reportedly the plans have been put on hold. The company is still evaluating how this decision would influence sales of their large appliances and furniture segment, reports ET.

"Major sellers who retail white goods, electronics and large appliances are not convinced about the move," said one of the company insiders.

"Flipkart might pick up the project soon but as of now things have been stalled and September looks unlikely," he added. Leading the ‘Project Shaw’ to turn ‘app-only’, Chief Executive, Punit Soni hasn’t yet responded on the matter.

According to one of the spokespersons from Flipkart, "We are constantly experimenting with various aspects of our service to create the best shopping experience for our users on our app. Meanwhile, we continue to offer both desktop as well as mobile option for our customers."

Presently, 70-75 percent of the total traffic on Flipkart is generated through mobile apps. Going ‘app-only’ is infrastructure cost-cutting measure for ecommerce companies in India that run in losses. Mobile penetration has risen exponentially in India. Ubiquitousness of  smartphones, is being used as a medium to explain their strategy to bet high on killing their websites and go app only.

However, the decision of this move received a mixed bag of responses. The company was also criticized as Indian customer base isn’t absolutely ready to completely abandon shopping from their desktops. Going app-only will restrict users in many ways.

"Some categories are better viewed on a bigger screen," said Sujayath Ali, CEO and co-founder, Voonik. "Also, going app-only will affect people browsing from office as well as price or value comparison," he added.  

The future for mobile internet looks bright according to Internet & Mobile Association of India and KPMG which predict India would have 236 million mobile internet users by 2016.

Read More: 6 Food Entrepreneurs Serving Global Brands on Indian Platter
Govt, Apollo Hospitals Partner For Telemedicine Services