NEW DELHI: E-commerce retailer Flipkart has seen a three-fold growth in books, general merchandise and home (BGMH) portfolio. Kanchan Mishra, Senior Director - FMCG, home & general merchandise at Flipkart told TNIE that the e-commerce giant expects these categories to grow and be a strong customer acquisition engine for the company.
Mishra, however, notes that despite this growth, e-commerce penetration for most of these categories remains in single digits, much lower than the country average and even lower as compared to global benchmarks as well where these categories are in strong double digits across developed economies, implying strong headroom for growth.
She adds that the e-commerce penetration overall in the metros is much stronger and tier 2 is still catching up. The width of selection sold has doubled year-on-year, says Mishra, which means that customers are looking for more variety and a wider range of products.
“We have seen an increase in the range of price points consumers buy across. Consistent with India, value continues to be the core but we have seen consumers diversify, upsell and buy across price points.”
Categories like personal care, food and nutrition, auto accessories, and home furnishings have a retail opportunity of over USD 10 billion, Mishra notes, adding that this makes them high focus categories for Flipkart, given the scale of the business.
The online retail giant is actively working in the toys category, according to Mishra.
“We have activated over 4,000 products in the last year or so and seen very good traction. There are trends like STEM toys which are really coming to speed,” she adds.
Clean beauty and cruelty-free products have also emerged as a trend clearly. Healthy snacking is another trend that has stayed post-pandemic, says Mishra.