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Don’t you think online buying and selling have become an essential part of our lives? It was youth and adults who initially relied on the Internet to buy products at affordable prices with amazing return policies and guarantees; it was a trend back then.
Nowadays, eCommerce websites have made online shopping a common practice for people of all ages. Flipkart is India’s most popular e-commerce website, known for its innovative business model.
Flipkart is the leading Indian eCommerce website founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in 2007. The company is headquartered in Bengaluru, India. This Indian eCommerce store has brought a revolution to the Indian e-retail industry.
Let’s now delve into the success story of Flipkart and learn about Flipkart’s founders, its history, startup story, subsidiaries, owners, business and revenue model, and more.
Flipkart Information
| Company Name | Flipkart |
|---|---|
| Headquarter | Bengaluru, India |
| Sector | E-commerce |
| Founders | Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Parent Organization | Walmart |
| Website | flipkart.com |
About Flipkart
Flipkart – Industry and Target Market Size
Flipkart – Founders and Team
Flipkart – Startup Story
Flipkart – Mission
Flipkart – Name, Tagline, and Logo
Flipkart – Parent Organization
Flipkart – Shareholding
Flipkart – Subsidiaries
Flipkart – Business Model and Revenue Model
Flipkart – Partnerships
Flipkart – Funding and Investors
Flipkart – ESOPs
Flipkart – Growth and Revenues
Flipkart – Financials
Flipkart – Product And Service
Flipkart – Investments
Flipkart – Mergers and Acquisitions
Flipkart – Challenges
Flipkart – Competitors
Flipkart – Future Plans
About Flipkart
Flipkart, an Indian eCommerce company founded in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, has become a household name. Based in Bengaluru, India, Flipkart has been selling a vast range of products online, similar to Amazon. Flipkart shopping offers a wide variety of products, making it a popular choice for online shoppers in India.
Its phenomenal marketing strategies have attracted the attention of retail giant Walmart, which acquired Flipkart for $16 billion in May 2018.
Along with the imposing worldwide market share that Walmart has in the retail industry, the Sam Walton-founded company is also famous for its inspirational business model.
In the initial years, Flipkart focused on selling books, but today the catalog covers categories like electronics, fashion, home essentials, groceries, and lifestyle products. More than 1 billion people have shopped on Flipkart, making the e-commerce giant the leading e-retailer in India.
Flipkart also has subsidiaries like Myntra, eBay, Ekart, Jeeves, and more. Flipkart also launched Shopsy on July 2, 2021, which is designed to behave like an app that will encourage the nation’s entrepreneurs to reap all the benefits of digital eCommerce that come their way without investments.
Today, Flipkart has over 100 million registered users, 100+ thousand sellers, and 21+ state-of-the-art warehouses.
It also boasts about 10+ million daily page visits and over 8 million shipments per month. Flipkart currently works as a subsidiary of Walmart.
The current CEO of Flipkart Group is Kalyan Krishnamurthy.
Flipkart acquired a 100% stake in Walmart India, which operates the Best Price cash-and-carry business.
Thus, we are launching Flipkart Wholesale. This step helped Flipkart strengthen its hold on the grocery, food, and fashion businesses, which are stated to be highly competitive in this dynamic environment.
The launch of Flipkart Wholesale will be initiated in August, thus piloting the services for the grocery and fashion categories.
“The Best Price operation will continue to run as it is. In terms of legal structure, currently, Walmart India is a separate entity within the Flipkart Group”, Said Sameer Aggarwal, CEO, Walmart India.
The role of Kirana Stores and MSMEs in India’s retail ecosystem is vital. With a focus on meeting their needs, Flipkart Wholesale is all set to widen opportunities at a significant value. By leveraging their expertise and knowledge, the team is breaking new norms and helping Indian businesses grow and succeed.
Earlier in 2018, Flipkart was acquired by Walmart for $16 billion, which was the largest online e-commerce acquisition in the world to the present. Flipkart launched its wholesale unit with a presence in the fashion and grocery categories.
“With the launch of Flipkart Wholesale, we will now extend our capabilities across technology, logistics and finance to small businesses across the country,” Said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group
At present, Flipkart Wholesale will be headed by Adarsh Menon (a veteran at Flipkart). In order to ensure smooth functioning and transition, Sameer Aggarwal (CEO, Walmart India) will remain with the company for a while.
Flipkart – Industry and Target Market Size
Flipkart uses an undifferentiated targeting strategy since people of all demographies purchase items online, which are available to everyone where delivery is possible.
National and multinational e-commerce companies are giving neck-to-neck competition to each other, due to which their positioning is very important. Flipkart has positioned itself as a trustworthy and customer-friendly eCommerce brand.
The online retail industry market is of a size of around $60 billion. It is expected to reach $200 billion by the year 2026. The Indian and global e-commerce industry is on the verge of exponential growth, and the introduction of high-speed internet has fueled the process across the nation.
Before the pandemic, India was one of the most attractive eCommerce markets globally, expected to deliver a 30% CAGR over a six-year time horizon, according to a report by RedSeer Consulting.
Flipkart – Founders and Team
Flipkart was founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in May 2007.
| Flipkart Founder | Education |
|---|---|
| Sachin Bansal | Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) |
| Binny Bansal | Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) |
Kalyan Krishnamurthy is the CEO of the company. He was appointed CEO of the company in January 2017, when he replaced Binny Bansal.
Sachin Bansal
Sachin Bansal is the co-founder of Flipkart. After obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from IIT Delhi, Sachin started with Amazon as a Senior Software Engineer after a brief stint at Techspan. He then left his job at Amazon and co-founded Flipkart.
At Flipkart, he managed the positions of CEO and Chairman before resigning in 2018 following Walmart’s major acquisition of Flipkart, where the American multinational company acquired around 77% stakes in the Indian e-commerce company. Bansal eventually started Navi with Ankit Agarwal and is currently serving as Chairman at Navi. The net worth of Sachin Bansal is currently at $1.20 billion, as of the Forbes report of 2025.
Kanimozhi Sivakumar
Binny Bansal
An IIT Delhi alumnus, much like Sachin, Binny completed his Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Engineering, after which he co-founded Flipkart. Binny Bansal was the COO and CEO of Flipkart.
Sachin was the CEO since the inception of Flipkart,, and in 2016, Binny Bansal took over as CEO while Sachin Bansal became the executive chairman of the company. However, Binny also resigned from Flipkart in 2018 due to personal misconduct allegations against Flipkart.
Bansal also served as the group CEO of the organization. Moreover, Binny has also served as a board advisor at Acko, Blackbuck, GreyOrange, Udhyam Learning, and more such companies. Binny Bansal is currently serving as a co-founder and executive chairman at xto10x Technologies.
The net worth of Binny Bansal is also $1.4 billion, as reported by Forbes in 2025. Apart from serving in the SaaS consulting startup, Bansal was also on the Board of Directors of PhonePe.
Binny Bansal sold stakes worth $264 million (nearly Rs 2,060 crore) to Tencent, as per official documents checked out on June 13, 2022.
The documents revealed that the transaction had already been done in October 2021 and was shared only at the start of FY22.
At the end of the transaction, Binny Bansal was holding around 1.84% of the stakes, while Tencent was currently holding 0.72%. The Chinese tech giant is holding around 4-5% stakes in Flipkart Pte, which is the Singapore-based parent of Flipkart.
Binny Bansal has a history of selling stakes. He had previously sold stakes worth $90 million in 2019 to Tiger Global across two deals. Bansal also sold shares worth $76 million to FIT Holdings SARL, the Luxembourg entity that is owned and operated by Walmart, in the same year.
Flipkart’s SVP, Growth and Monetisation, and Shopsy Head, Prakash Sikaria, are exiting after the festival sales, as per reports dated July 22, 2022. Sikaria also headed other verticals like recommerce and travel, which will now be taken over by Adarsh Menon.
On the other hand, Flipkart Wholesale, the B2B e-commerce business of Flipkart, will be headed by Koteshwar LN. However, Flipkart has yet to decide who to appoint for the other functions that Sikaria handled.
Flipkart currently operates with an employee strength of 33,000+ employees.
shifa ali
Flipkart – Startup Story
The IIT-Delhi graduates, Sachin and Binny Bansal, were employees at Amazon when they began thinking of building their own company in India.
Though Sachin was an employee working with Amazon for some time, Binny was referred to join the company by Sachin, and the former appeared to be quite bored with the company.
It was like a “12 to 3 job or something” for Binny Bansal, who decided to quit the company as soon as Sachin and he emerged with the idea of establishing an eCommerce business.
Sachin and Binny started Flipkart as an online book store from a two-bedroom apartment in Bengaluru’s Koramangala area. They initially started with funding of Rs 4,00,000 from their own pockets.
When Sachin and Binny received a positive response and success in selling books back in 2007, they planned to expand to electronics as well, and by 2014, the company had become one of India’s most valuable startups by reaching a valuation of $1 billion.
When the duo founded Flipkart, online shopping in India was even a distant dream for them, but the hard work and consistency paid off and made Sachin and Binny into widely successful entrepreneurs, which placed them quite ahead in the list of the successful Indian entrepreneurs.
Flipkart – Mission
Flipkart’s mission is to provide a delightful customer experience by being the partner of choice for Indians and to create India’s most customer-centric company.
Flipkart – Name, Tagline, and Logo
The founders of Flipkart, Sachin Bansal, and Binny Bansal, wanted a name that could speak beyond books.
Furthermore, they also wanted to name their company in such a way that it would be suitable for a wide range of product categories that could also be expanded in the future.
Flipkart means ‘flipping things into a shopping cart’.
The logo of Flipkart was changed twice. There have been several taglines that the company has gone through on different occasions. Some of the popular taglines are:
- Ab Har Wish Hogi Poori
- Abhi Nahi To Kabhi Nahi
- If it’s trendy, it is on Flipkart
- Be Trendy, Always
- Itne mein, Itnaaaa Milega
- Shopping ka naya address
- Ab Mehengaayi Giregi
Flipkart – Parent Organization
In August 2018, U.S.-based retail chain Walmart acquired a 77% controlling stake in Flipkart for $16 billion, valuing the company at $20 billion.
With this acquisition, Walmart claimed that the omnichannel retail sector has a huge potential for future growth.
Speaking at Retail India Summit and Expo, Walmart India President and CEO Krish Iyer claimed that
“$16 billion deal to acquire Flipkart has attracted foreign and domestic investors in country’s retail and omni-channel space. The recent investment in Flipkart shows Walmart is committed to the country. We do see a great value in terms of an omnichannel play in the whole process”
Owing to the demonetization, he said that it played a crucial role in the growth of the retail sector by structuring the economy along with the implementation of the GST.
These stakes were further increased to 81.3% towards the end of the same year. Soon after the acquisition, one of the founders of Flipkart, Sachin Bansal, left the company.
This year, Walmart invested $3.5 billion to boost its ownership of Flipkart to 80.5%. Notably, some of Flipkart’s early investors, such as Tiger Global and Accel, divested their stakes by selling them to Walmart.
Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores.
Flipkart – Shareholding
Flipkart’s shareholding pattern as of September 2024, sourced from Tracxn:
| Shareholders | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Walmart | 80.8% |
| Tencent | 5.9% |
| CPP Investments | 2.2% |
| SoftBank Vision Fund | 1.4% |
| Qatar Investment Authority | 0.9% |
| GIC | 0.3% |
| Appaloosa Management | <0.1% |
| UBS | 0.1% |
| Waverly | 1.4% |
| Microsoft | 1.2% |
| Gamvest | 0.9% |
| WCH | 0.1% |
| Pantai Remis Investment | 0.1% |
| ESOP Management and Trust | <0.1% |
| Jadoff SPV 5 | <0.1% |
| ESOP Pool | 4.5% |
Flipkart – Subsidiaries
The subsidiaries of Flipkart are Myntra, Mallers, eBay, Ekart, Jeeves, Mech Mocha, Upstream Commerce, Ugenie, DSYN Technologies, AdIQuity Technologies, Jabong, ClearTrip, Shopsy, Yaantra, Liv.Ai, F1 Info Solutions and Services, Fx Mart, Appiterate, ngpay, Mime360, WeRead, Chakpak, and Sasta Sundar.
| Company | Acquisition/Launch Date |
|---|---|
| Yaantra | Jan 2022 |
| Sasta Sundar | Nov 2021 |
| Shopsy | July 2021 |
| ClearTrip | Apr 2021 |
| Mech Mocha | Nov 2020 |
| Upstream Commerce | Sep 2018 |
| Liv.ai | Aug 2018 |
| F1 Info Solutions & Services | Sept 2017 |
| eBay India | Apr 2017 |
| PhonePe | Apr 2016 |
| Jabong | July 2016 |
| Fx Mart | Sep 2015 |
| Ekart | Sep 2015 |
| Appiterate | Apr 2015 |
| DSYN Technologies | Apr 2015 |
| AdIQuity | Mar 2015 |
| Jeeves | 2014 |
| ngpay | Sep 2014 |
| Myntra | May 2014 |
| LetsBuy.com | Feb 2012 |
| ChakPak Digital Catalogue | Nov 2011 |
| Mime360 | Oct 2011 |
| Mallers | Oct 2011 |
| WeRead | Dec 2010 |
| Ugenie | Apr 2010 |
In 2016, Flipkart Group acquired PhonePe. However, in December 2022, Walmart-owned Flipkart and PhonePe declared a full ownership separation, with Flipkart no longer holding any stake in the payments firm PhonePe.
Shalini Rath
Flipkart – Business Model and Revenue Model
Flipkart works on a B2C business model i.e., a business-to-consumer model. The company initially began with a direct-consumer model, wherein it sold books and some other products.
Today, it has become a marketplace with a huge catalog of products—right from FMCG to electronics and books.
Flipkart claims it has over 80 categories and over a million sellers on board from all across India.
It is an omni-channel service provider that leveraged the same model after the Walmart acquisition of Flipkart. The company earns almost all of its operating revenues from the sale of goods. Flipkart seller login allows vendors to manage their products, track sales, and update listings on the Flipkart marketplace through their seller account.
At Recode’s Code Commerce conference, Binny Bansal, who co-founded Flipkart along with Sachin Bansal, said:
“Sometime in the future, especially with some categories, omnichannel would make a ton of sense. It is definitely something which would be there in the future.
Vibhavari Madki
Flipkart – Partnerships
Flipkart has seen a wide range of partnerships throughout the years it has been active. Some of the most prominent of its partnerships are:
Adani Group
The Indian eCommerce marketplace announced a strategic and commercial partnership with the Adani Group on April 12, 2021, to enhance its supply chain and logistics infrastructure.
IIM Sambalpur
The eCommerce major partnered with the Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur in August 2021, with the aim of supporting and promoting small businesses.
Urbanic
Flipkart partnered with Urbanic on September 8, 2021, to target young consumers across India.
Hopscotch
Flipkart started collaborating with the leading Indian kids’ fashion brand, Hopscotch on November 25, 2021, to strengthen its kids’ fashion segment.
Pocket FM
The popular audio streaming service, Pocket FM, has partnered with Flipkart on July 26, 2022, which will be a tie-up for its distribution via the famous e-commerce marketplace.
Tripti Agarwal
Flipkart – Funding and Investors
Flipkart shopping has raised $15.3 billion in funding in 29 rounds.
Below are some of the funding details:
| Date | Stage | Amount | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 2024 | Corporate Round | $350 million | |
| Jul 31, 2023 | Secondary Market | $1.4 billion | Walmart |
| June 13, 2022 | Secondary Market | $264 million | Tencent |
| January 5, 2021 | – | $233 million | Flipkart Pvt. Ltd |
| July 12, 2021 | Private Equity Fund | $3.6 billion | Softbank Vision Fund, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC, Walmart |
| September 16, 2020 | Corporate Round | $62.8 million | Tencent |
| July 14, 2020 | Corporate Round | $1.2 billion | Walmart |
| December 3, 2019 | Corporate Round | $28.4 million | – |
| September 10, 2019 | Corporate Round | $217 million | Flipkart |
| September 4, 2019 | Secondary Market | $14.5 million | – |
| January 16, 2019 | Corporate Equity | $200.8 million | Flipkart |
| October 25, 2017 | Corporate Round | – | eBay |
| September 18, 2017 | Debt Financing | $133.9 million | SoftBank Vision Fund |
| August 10, 2017 | Secondary Market | $1 billion | SoftBank Vision Fund |
Flipkart’s valuation exceeded $40 billion in 2022, and it was preparing for its upcoming public listing.
Flipkart – ESOPs
Flipkart Singapore has expanded its ESOP trust. According to the reports dated March 31, 2022, the company has allotted 21,370 equity shares, the total worth of which is reported to be around $4.4 million (Rs 30.71 crore) to the ESOP trust.
The Indian e-commerce giant already boasts of having the largest ESOP pool among startups of Indian origin.
A recent Longhouse Consulting report claims that Flipkart’s ESOP pool is worth around $2.26 billion (Rs 17,000 crore). It is followed by OYO with a $1 billion pool, Zomato with $745 million, and Paytm with a $604 million ESOP pool.
Amidst a significant development, Flipkart has commenced an impressive ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) payout amounting to $700 million in July 2023, benefiting around 19,000 of its current and former employees. This move follows Flipkart’s decision to separate full ownership of PhonePe, the Indian digital payments and financial services company. Defying the trend in the current challenging funding landscape for startups, Flipkart’s generous payout demonstrates its commitment to recognizing and rewarding its workforce while also aiming to retain top talent in a fiercely competitive market.
Flipkart – Growth and Revenues
From its bootstrapped beginnings to the success Flipkart is witnessing today, it proudly talks about its success.
Though the company looked a bit shaky with the arrival of US-based Amazon in the Indian markets, the danger is no longer looming today with the assertion of Kalyan Krishnamurthy as the group CEO and the acquisition of Walmart of Flipkart.
Flipkart India is currently the leading eCommerce site in India.
The Walmart-owned Indian eCommerce company also clocked an impressive 64% market share when last recorded during the festive sales in October 2021.
2Gud RoadMap for Refurbished Products
Flipkart-owned 2Gud for the refurbished market will play a major role in driving budget shoppers to premium products. Although, with its great accreditation for shopping experience refurbished market will gain trust quickly among budget buyers and refurbished sellers.
Moreover, Flipkart will also keep a strict quality check on refurbished items so that the buyers use their products hassle-free.
However, its 10-day easy return policy will be super beneficial for the refurbished shopping market. Initially, 2Gud started the refurbished market with mobiles, laptops, tablets, smartwatches, and accessories and plans to introduce 40+ categories in the giant refurbished market “2Gud”.
2GUD has expanded its category offerings to cater to style-conscious Indians who are looking for value in 2019. Targeted at Tier II and Tier III markets, 2GUD plans to evolve from a refurbished-only platform to a complete customer offering with categories such as affordable fashion, accessories, and home.
As part of a larger strategy to expand the benefits of e-commerce to the next 200 million customers, 2GUD, which is present across 40+ categories, will now expand to 150+ categories. 2GUD is focusing on making the latest trends across fashion, home, decor, kids, and other categories affordable for the Indian consumer.
2GUD predicts that the refurbished goods market, on gaining the trust of users, would go on to become a 20 billion dollar industry in the next half-decade. To be a leader in this segment of e-commerce in India is not an easy task, given the “trust issues” that continue to persist in this part of the pie.
Recently, 2GUD upgraded its m-site, making it available as a mobile app as it looks to cater to a larger set of audiences and shoppers. 2GUD has served close to a million customers from over 3,000 cities across India and has over 1,000 registered sellers.
Officially, eBay.in ended operations on August 14th, 2018. In the meantime, eBay is all set to relaunch its platform with cross-border trade offers exclusively. The Walmart-owned company has enormous growth prospects and has been doing great in its own way.
Flipkart – Big Billion Sale Success
The delivery of around 1 crore shipments within 5 days of the Big Billion Day sale has created a lasting mark on the eCommerce industry. Flipkart has seen a 10X growth from the last festive Big Billion sale. Out of the 1 crore, around 35 lakh deliveries were via Kirana Partners. Flipkart online shopping provides a convenient platform for buying electronics, fashion, home goods, and more from the comfort of your home.
The number of crorepati sellers went up by 1.5 times, and the number of lakhpati sellers rose by 1.7 times.
In the Big Billion Days sale of 2021, over 3.75 lakh sellers joined hands to offer the best products online to their customers via Flipkart. This helped the customers save a whopping Rs 11500 crore during the “biggest Indian sale ever. The platform witnessed around 110 orders placed per second that varied across various products, including electronics, fashion, books, furnishing, etc., in its Big Billion sale of 2020.
Furthermore, the company is also seeing around 100x week-on-week growth on its social commerce model, which helps in assisted shopping and charges commission from advertisements and sellers working through its platform. This is why the company is striving to get a bigger share of the grocery ecosystem in the upcoming months.
Here are some growth highlights of the brand at a glance:
- Flipkart’s valuation is $37 million as of May 2024.
- Flipkart is a market leader.
- It is one of the pioneering ecommerce marketplaces in the country.
- Flipkart is known as the highest-valued among the unicorn companies in India.
- Flipkart presently boasts of having more than 375K sellers/resellers.
- The company is serving 160 million+ users in the country.
Flipkart – Financials
Flipkart has shown consistent revenue growth from FY20 to FY24, crossing INR 70,000 crore in FY24. However, the company continues to report substantial losses, largely due to rising operational expenses.
| Particulars | FY24 | FY23 | FY22 | FY21 | FY20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | INR 70,844 crore | INR 56,012.8 crore | INR 51,175.7 crore | INR 43,349.1 crore | INR 34,610.1 crore |
| Expenses | INR 75,038.2 crore | INR 60,858.5 crore | INR 54,580 crore | INR 45,793.9 crore | INR 37,760.4 crore |
| Profit/Loss | INR -4,194.2 crore | INR -4,845.7 crore | INR -3,413 crore | INR -2,445.6 crore | INR -3,150.3 crore |
Flipkart’s revenue grew over INR 14,800 crore from FY23 to FY24, but losses remained high at INR 4,194.2 crore, though slightly reduced compared to FY23. In 2023, Flipkart’s operating revenue was INR 55,824 crore, while its total expenses amounted to INR 60,859 crore, resulting in a loss of INR 4,897 crore. In 2024, operating revenue grew to INR 70,542 crore, and expenses increased to INR 75,038 crore, with a reduced loss of INR 4,248 crore.
Based on data received by business intelligence platform Tofler, Flipkart India recorded a 45% increase in net loss for 2022–2023 to INR 4,890.6 crore in FY23 from INR 3,371.2 crore in FY22. Consolidated sales for the Walmart-owned business in 2022–2023 were INR 56,013 crore, a 9% increase over the prior fiscal year FY22.
Flipkart Revenue Breakdown (FY24–FY23)
| Particulars | FY24 | FY23 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue from Operations | INR 70,541.9 crore | INR 55,823.9 crore |
| Other Income | INR 302.1 crore | INR 188.9 crore |
| Total Revenue | INR 70,844 crore | INR 56,012.8 crore |
Revenue from operations increased by INR 14,718 crore in FY24, driven by stronger sales. Other income also rose marginally, adding to the overall revenue growth.
Flipkart Expense Breakdown (FY24–FY23)
| Particulars | FY24 | FY23 |
|---|---|---|
| Purchases of Stock-in-Trade | – | INR 59,816.6 crore |
| Employee Benefit Expense | INR 684.4 crore | INR 639.2 crore |
| Finance Costs | INR 299.8 crore | INR 169.7 crore |
| Other Expenses | INR 74,054 crore | INR 499.6 crore |
| Total Expenses | INR 75,038.2 crore | INR 60,858.5 crore |
Expenses surged in FY24 mainly due to a sharp rise in “Other Expenses” INR 74,054 crore, overshadowing stable personnel and finance costs.
The company’s reported expenses for the fiscal year 2024 were INR 75,038 crore, up from INR 60,859 crore in FY23. This covered expenses for things like buying trade shares, paying employee benefits, and financing-related fees.
The company started a unique feature of the value proposition by offering 24 x 7 support to the customer. Flipkart charges a certain amount or percentage of commission from the sellers, which varies depending on the type of product and the kind of sales. This may range from 5% to 20%, excluding taxes and discounts.
Flipkart Profit/Loss (FY24–FY23)
Flipkart’s net loss narrowed from INR 4,845.7 crore in FY23 to INR 4,194.2 crore in FY24 despite growing expenses, suggesting better cost absorption with increased revenue.
Quick Summary: Comparative Insights (FY24 vs FY23)
- Revenue Growth: INR 14,831 crore increase in total revenue (up 26.5% YoY).
- Other Income Growth: Increased from INR 188.9 crore to INR 302.1 crore, a 60% jump.
- Net Loss Reduction: Reduced loss by INR 651.5 crore YoY.
- Expenses Spike: Expenses grew by INR 14,179.7 crore, largely due to unclassified “Other Expenses”.
- Business Implication: Flipkart’s scale-up continues with improved topline and narrowed losses, but sustainability depends on controlling other operating costs.
Flipkart – Product And Service
Flipkart some of the prominent products and services are mentioned below:
Flipkart Minutes
Over the past two months, Flipkart has shortened its delivery times in response to growing consumer demand for quick delivery in non-metropolitan areas and greater competition from quick commerce companies like Blinkit and Zepto.
Furthermore, Flipkart has started offering free same-day delivery of goods in 20 locations across a variety of categories, as per a news report from March 11, 2024.
Flipkart Labs
Flipkart Labs is one of the latest initiatives launched by Flipkart on April 28, 2022, with a view to foraying into the Web3 and Metaverse. Based in Bengaluru, Flipkart Labs aims to build an in-house innovation capability to fuel and shape the future of customer-centric e-commerce in India.
Flipkart Health+ App
Flipkart launched its new Health+ App, which will focus on empowering users with easy access to medicines, healthcare products, and services across India, on April 6, 2022.
Flipkart Launches Spoyl app-in-app fashion Vertical
Flipkart, the renowned e-commerce platform, introduced an app-in-app fashion segment called SPOYL on August 17, 2023, with a specific focus on catering to the preferences of Gen Z consumers. This dedicated vertical within the Flipkart app will showcase an extensive selection of over 40,000 products spanning various categories, including western wear, accessories, and footwear.
Flipkart – Investments
Being a pioneering eCommerce business that is hailed as a fast-growing company, Flipkart has seen numerous investments. Flipkart has made 35 investments, of which 30 are lead investments. The most recent investment was made on April 4, 2023, when Flipkart Marketplace raised $358.2 million.
Here’s a look at the most recent investments by Flipkart:
| Company Name | Date of Investment | Amount | Funding Round | Lead Investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flipkart Marketplace | April 4, 2023 | $358.2 million | Corporate Round | Yes |
| Flipkart Marketplace | September 19, 2022 | $30 million | Corporate Round | Yes |
| Hyperface | July 13, 2022 | $ 9 million | Seed Round | – |
| Shadowfax | July 11, 2022 | $9.75 million | Series E | Yes |
| FinBox | June 20, 2022 | $15 million | Series A | – |
| G.O.A.T Brand Labs | April 20, 2022 | $50 million | Convertible Round | – |
| Flipkart Marketplace | March 31, 2022 | $553 million | Corporate Round | Yes |
| Flipkart Health | March 31, 2022 | $143 million | Corporate Round | Yes |
| Myntra | March 25, 2022 | $116 million | Corporate Round | Yes |
| Ninjacart | December 12, 2021 | $145 million | Series D | Yes |
| G.O.A.T Brand Labs | July 25, 2021 | $16.72 million | Series A | Yes |
| PhonePe | December 14, 2020 | $19.29 million | Corporate round | Yes |
| Universal Sportsbiz | November 6, 2020 | – | Series F | Yes |
| Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail | October 23, 2020 | $192.92 million | Post-IPO Equity | Yes |
| Ninjacart | October 12, 2020 | $30 million | Corporate Round | Yes |
| Arvind Youth Brands | July 9, 2020 | – | Corporate Round | Yes |
| PhonePe | April 27, 2020 | – | Corporate Round | Yes |
| PhonePe | February 26, 2020 | – | Corporate Round | Yes |
| Ninjacart | December 11, 2019 | – | Series C | Yes |
Flipkart – Mergers and Acquisitions
Flipkart has acquired 18 companies to date, as of March 2022. ANS Commerce was the latest company that Flipkart acquired in an undisclosed deal on April 19, 2022, in order to strengthen its eCommerce ecosystem.
From having @Flipkart as our seed investor along with Blume to now joining hands to build entertainment at scale for India – it’s been a quite a full circle. Feeling immense gratitude towards all @MechMocha team members, investors, advisors and partners. https://t.co/77bhfReGKN
— Arpita Kapoor (@Arpita_Kapoor) November 3, 2020
Here’s a look at the 11 acquisitions by Flipkart:
| Name of the Company Acquired | Date of Acquisition | Deal Value |
|---|---|---|
| ANS Commerce | April 19, 2022 | – |
| Yaantra | January 13, 2022 | $40 million |
| Sasta Sundar | November 19, 2021 | – |
| Cleartrip | April 15, 2021 | – |
| Scapic | November 17, 2020 | – |
| Mech Mocha | November 3, 2020 | – |
| Walmart India | July 23, 2020 | – |
| Upstream Commerce | September 9, 2018 | – |
| Liv.ai | August 21, 2018 | – |
| F1 Info Solutions & Services | September 26, 2017 | – |
| eBay India | April 10, 2017 | – |
Flipkart has exited from three companies:
- Myntra
- Flipkart
- Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail
Flipkart – Challenges
Challenges have always been face-to-face with India’s most popular e-commerce player, but Flipkart has always come out victorious. One recent update has it that Flipkart and its archrival, Amazon, have been involved in alleged cases of competition law violations.
This is why CCI or the Competition Commission of India, raided a few seller offices of both Flipkart and Amazon to probe into the same after the Supreme Court gave its nod for it. The Walmart-owned company as well as that founded by Bezos were linked with multiple incidents of favoring their preferred sellers on their respective platforms.
Sushant Singh T-shirts Sales Controversy
Boycott Flipkart went trending on Twitter on July 26, 2022, after numerous Flipkart users allegedly accused Flipkart of “Cheap marketing”, when they found tees containing the image of Sushant Singh Rajput with a message that read “Depression is like drowning”.
According to these users, who were Sushant fans, these t-shirts with the message indicated that Sushant Singh died by suicide, while this has not been clearly identified. Some others also identified this thing as a “smear campaign” against the late actor.
Flipkart Subsidiary Cleartrip’s Data Breach
Cleartrip, which is owned by Flipkart now, has experienced data breaches. The company confirmed on July 18, 2022, in an email sent to its customers that the information of some of the customers was compromised, but no sensitive information was leaked.
Flipkart-owned Cleartrip has already reached out to proper authorities and would resort to appropriate legal action systematically. The acquisition of Cleartrip was via a distress sale after the startup’s growth plummeted to astonishing levels as the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. The company had earlier thrived another data breach in 2017 when a group called Turtle Squad defaced it for a few minutes.
Subhajit Mitra
Flipkart – Competitors
Flipkart India competes primarily with Amazon’s Indian subsidiary and the domestic rival Snapdeal. In FY23, Flipkart showcased resilience among e-commerce leaders, securing a substantial 48% market share and effectively protecting its position.
Flipkart is significantly dominant in the sale of apparel (a position that was bolstered by its acquisitions of Myntra) and was described as being “neck and neck” with Amazon in the sale of electronics and mobile phones.
To list some of Flipkart’s competitors, they would be:
- Etsy
- Amazon
- eBay
- Alibaba
- Myntra
- Paytm
- Snapdeal
Subhajit MitraFlipkart – Future Plans
Currently, both the founders, Sachin and Binny Bansal don’t serve Flipkart anymore, but the brand continues to stand tall despite all the challenges. Flipkart has been one of the most prominent faces in the Indian startup ecosystem.
Flipkart has never been afraid of taking risks, and that is one of its key advantages. From books to electronics and household products and whatnot, it has evolved a lot in the past years and will continue to expand irrespective of the change in shareholders or competitors.
Walmart’s major investment in Flipkart means better service and market presence for the latter. Advancements in eCommerce, a wider range of products, better products, and upgraded integrations with small businesses are just a small chunk of the innovations we can expect from Flipkart in the coming time.
FAQs
What is Flipkart?
Flipkart is an Indian e-commerce company that sells a wide range of products, including electronics, fashion, and home goods. It was founded in 2007 and is one of the largest online retailers in India.
Is Flipkart the first online shopping company in India?
No, Flipkart is one of the first online shopping companies in India but not the first online shopping company in India. It was Fabmart.com, founded in 1999 by K Vaitheeswaran, which was India’s first online shopping company.
Who is the owner of Flipkart?
Walmart, an American multinational retail corporation is the Parent Organisation of Flipkart. Flipkart was founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in 2007.
Who are Flipkart founders?
Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal founded Flipkart in May 2007 in Bengaluru, India.
What is the Flipkart CEO’s name?
The name of the Flipkart CEO is Kalyan Krishnamurthy.
What is the origin country of Flipkart?
Flipkart was founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal and is headquartered in Bengaluru, India.
How did Flipkart start?
Flipkart was started in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, two former Amazon employees, in Bengaluru, India. It began as an online bookstore, operating from a small apartment. Their focus on fast delivery and customer service helped them quickly gain popularity, eventually expanding into electronics, fashion, and more to become one of India’s biggest e-commerce platforms.
When was Flipkart founded?
Flipkart was founded in October 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal.
Is Flipkart a product based company?
Though Flipkart was earlier solely a product-based company, it is now operating as a product and services-based company.
What is the tagline of Flipkart?
“Ab Har Wish Hogi Poori” is the tagline of Flipkart.
Where is the headquarters of Flipkart located?
The Flipkart headquarters is in Bangalore, India.
What are Flipkart products and services?
Flipkart was earlier solely an eCommerce operator that offered a wide array of products from home essentials to electronic gadgets to groceries and more. However, with the latest introduction of the cleaning and repairing services, Flipkart has already started its foray into the at-home services segment, to rival Urban Company.
Who is Flipkart owner name and country it originated from?
Flipkart is owned mainly by Walmart Inc., a U.S.-based retail giant that acquired a majority stake in 2018. The company is officially registered in Singapore but operates primarily from India, where it was originally founded.
Who are the Flipkart competitors in India?
Flipkart competitors in India include:
- Amazon
- eBay
- Snapdeal
- Paytm
- Tata Neu
- Etsy
