Flipkart, undoubtedly India's top ecommerce company seems to have dropped its big plan of going 'app only' for the time being. The ecommerce company had been planning to become an 'app only' service, starting this September.
According to a report published in a national daily, this sudden change in plans came because Flipkart wasn't yet able to assess the kind of impact the move would have on the sales of big categories like furniture and big electronic appliances.
Further, according to rumours going around the industry, major sellers who retail large appliances, electronics and white goods aren't in the favour of Flipkart's 'app only' move.
Flipkart has constantly been trying to innovate and reinvent itself in order to provide its customers with the best shopping experience amongst the various ecommerce competitors that have mushroomed in the recent times.
According to recent stats available, the ecommerce giant's mobile application accounts for about 70-75% of the giant's total traffic.
The main idea behind various ecommerce players pushing their mobile apps is basically twofold. Firstly, majority of Indians make use of their smartphones to access the Internet and secondly, mobile apps provide more data on each user which ultimately allows firms to personalize user experiences based on requirements and interests gathered from users' browsing and buying history.
According to Sujayath Ali, CEO and cofounder of mobile app based fashion retailer Voonik, "Some categories are better viewed on a bigger screen." "Also, going app-only will affect people browsing from office as well as price or value comparison," he further added in a statement given to a national business daily.
Earlier in the year, Flipkart owned Myntra had also gone the app-only way. This was decided as nearly 95% of Myntra's traffic and 70% of its sales were coming from the app.
According KPMG and Internet Mobile Association of India, by the year 2016, India is projected to have approximately 236 million mobile Internet users.
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