Amazon and Flipkart bank on online exclusives for festive bounty

KOLKATA: Top ecommerce marketplaces Amazon and Flipkart will only promote online-exclusive smartphone and consumer electronic models this festive season when they target to more than double their sales over last year, trade insiders said.

“The ecommerce marketplaces are structuring their Diwali offers and promotions solely on the online exclusive models across smartphones, televisions and large appliances,” a leading ecommerce seller said on condition of anonymity.

“This will allow them to enjoy pricing advantage since brands with omni-channel presence and models will not fund online discounts, which the online exclusive brands would offer,” the person told ET.

India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) norms prohibit marketplaces from influencing prices and offering discounts.

As part of their strategy, the marketplaces will give priority listing to online exclusive models and extensively promote special deals offered by marketers through banner advertisements and searches, said four senior executives of leading smartphone and television brands.

Other brands will have to pay for such promotions for their omnichannel models, they said. In response to ET’s queries, Amazon India declined to comment on specifics but said it is committed to provide the best customer experience especially during the festival period with a wide and diverse product selection at great prices, delivered fast and reliably.

An email sent to Flipkart remained unanswered as of press time Sunday.

Online exclusive brands and models always used to get focus in ecommerce marketplaces, but in previous years marketplaces would promote big omni-channel launches as well. Not this year, thanks to stricter FDI rules as well as brands tightening their online discount norms.

Motorola India country head Amit Boni said it makes sense for ecommerce firms to support brands heavily tilted on online sales. “This will give the marketplaces a lot of leverage in not having to compete with offline retail,” he said.

Motorola has exclusive smartphone models in both Amazon and Flipkart.

Online exclusive models account for almost 75% of total smartphone sales in ecommerce marketplaces.

The marketplaces are now trying to replicate similar numbers for televisions and large appliances this Diwali, with focus on brands like BPL, Vu, Onida, Sansui, Kelvinator and InFocus.

Even though some of the online exclusive smartphone brands like LeEco, Lenovo, Yu and Xiaomi have recently expanded into brick-and-mortar retail, trade estimates show that around 80-90% of their sales are still generated from ecommerce.