Flipkart’s video streaming service clocked over two-fold jump in viewership in March as users continued to visit the e-commerce app to watch short news videos, movies and reality TV at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has virtually halted sales, a top executive told ET.
The Walmart-owned online retailer’s latest video offering is an eight-week reality series Entertainer No. 1, which will be hosted by Varun Dhawan. This also marks Flipkart’s foray into interactive mobile-only shows that feature user-generated content.
“80% of India, unlike the US, consumes content on the mobile…they are looking for short-form content that is differentiated, interactive and entertaining… with an average attention span of between 10-18 minutes,” said Prakash Sikaria, vice president – Growth & Monetisation at Flipkart.
Over the last six months, the company has ramped up its video streaming presence by launching original series, as well as collaborating with over-the-top services like Eros Now, Voot, TVF, Viu, among others to offer a range of content on the platform in multiple languages.
“While we continue to aggregate long-form content in partnership with other OTT players, the gaps we see in the short-form video space we will fill with our original series,” Sikaria said.
In August, Flipkart revamped its app to include video streaming, games and feeds, showcasing the company’s underlying strategy to expand from a pure e-commerce destination to a larger social engagement-led platform.
According to Sikaria, the online retailer’s focus on video comes at a time when the company wants to capture the mindshare of the next 100 million users who may not necessarily transact online and may want to spend more time on browsing and entertainment.
“In the digital funnel, videos that are more broad-based come at the top of the funnel… while e-commerce transactions come at the bottom… As we cater to the next set of internet users, we are building all pillars from discovery to engagement to transactions,” said Sikaria.
Flipkart had forayed into original content programming with ‘Flipkart Video Originals’ in October, two months after introducing its video streaming service. Amazon India too has been working on original regional video content, audio and music streaming to drive attract new internet users. It, however, operates different apps for these services.
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