Flipkart, India’s largest online retailer is promoting Billion as Made for India brand that aims to bring quality products catering the unique needs of Indian consumers at a budget price. The products are manufactured in India and will be available exclusively on Flipkart. Flipkart has already launched kitchen appliances like mixer grinders, cookware, backpacks and irons under the brand. Sachin Bansal, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Flipkart has been entirely in charge of this initiative for the last few months. This is the first initiative of the Sachin since he stepped down as CEO in January 2016. “Billion is our newest such innovation, offering products designed specifically for Indian shoppers. We have data-mined thousands of customer reviews to address the shortcomings of existing brands and used this knowledge to design products that address these need gaps,” said Sachin in a press release of the company. Flipkart also says that Billion products are designed on the basis of insights into the needs of Indian customers. Here are the excerpts about the available Billion products that the company has shared in its press statement. The first available product Billion Mixer Grinder is specially designed to keep in mind the big Indian families. The concern among many Indians is that they need to make multiple repetitions with cooking because of big families. So, Billion mixer comes with 25% larger jars. Also, as many Indian kitchens don’t have multiple plug points and hence need a longer cord in appliances. And to the rescue, Billion mixers have a longer cord than others. Next, Billion cookware is designed with a thicker non-stick coating to withstand the Indian cooking style. Similarly, Billion Irons have been designed with a superior non-stick coating which ensures smooth ironing on the kinds of cloth materials used in India. The Billion backpacks are designed with extra space since Indians typically like to carry more on their backpacks.
Billion is the second private brand from Flipkart. The company also owns a brand named ‘Smartbuy’ including home accessories, electronics, and personal grooming items. The new brand Billion is backed by the ‘Flipkart Assured’ program which guarantees an accelerated delivery process and assures customers that the products have gone through six levels of quality checks. The Bengaluru based online retail company has recently acquired its rival eBay India. It was also planning to buy another homegrown e-com player Snapdeal, but unfortunately, the deal did not materialize. Flipkart raised $1.4 billion funding from Chinese internet giant Tencent in April. The valuation of Flipkart is estimated $11.6 billion now. With the launch of this new budget brand, it will for sure grow at a rapid rate.
