Flipkart forays into social commerce

Brings content-to-commerce play for consumers

Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, on Wednesday announced the launch of social commerce on its independent value platform - 2GUD. With the aim to widen customer proposition, the social commerce feature will be available to all app users.

2GUD’s social commerce platform will allow users to have an uninterrupted video shopping experience with their favourite influencers showcasing the latest fashion trends, reviewing gadgets, sharing beauty tips and so much more.

“We want the next 200 million customers to be able to experience social commerce comfortably and build their trust on 2GUD as they come on to the platform for an engaging shopping experience. These consumers quite often face trust and style deficits. In a situation like this, recommendations from a person like yourself or an influencer play a critical role. Influencers are changing the landscape of online retail and bringing greater opportunities for social commerce platforms in India," Chanakya Gupta, Head of 2GUD at Flipkart said in a statement.

Starting with the launch of social commerce on its app, 2GUD will further expand this feature to its mobile site and website. 2GUD currently caters to more than 600+ verticals across new value-driven offerings and existing refurbished product segments. The platform has more than a million customers spanning across 15,000+ pincodes in India.

The manner in which consumers today are consuming content has dramatically changed over the past few years with the advent of social media. The rise of influencers, beyond the metro cities, has given a pathway to a new generation of content creators who are able to drive deeper personal connections and are relatable to a mass of audience, beyond metros. As an extension, social commerce has already made inroads and accounts for 15-20% of the online retail market today, which is expected to hit the $70 billion mark in the coming decade, according to industry reports, Flipkart said.

Consumers on 2GUD’s social commerce platform will be exposed to a feed of videos made by a hand-picked influencer network across various topics and categories. These influencers will curate their favorite products as part of their collection in the virtual store, allowing consumers to witness their styling journeys across categories. It will also allow consumers to shop the products which are part of the video, without moving away from the video interface, leading to a seamless, natural and content-to-commerce experience, the company added.