new Delhi.walmart’s Flipkart
unit is set to intro-
duce a free video
streaming service to draw new
users from small towns and cit-
ies in India and take on rival
Amazon’s Prime Video service.
Flipkart is eyeing the next
200 million consumers who
are coming online. The com-
pany believes that most con-
sumers are introduced to the
internet through online vid-
eos. Hence, video content and
entertainment could play a big
role in getting consumers to
come and buy online.
“We believe that great con-
tent, if made available to a
wider base of consumers,
especially the ones who are
new to e-commerce but not
internet, can bring them on
board on an everyday basis and
help take away any anxiety
that they may have towards
online shopping,” Flipkart
group chief executive Kalyan
Krishnamurthy said in a state
ment on Monday at the launch
of Flipkart Videos, a curated
range of movies, shows and
entertainment series. Custom-
ers, he added, should not pay
extra for premium content.
The video content offering
is focused on three primary
aspects: it’s free, curated and
personalized.
Experts say the content
market is still evolving, consid-
ering the number of customers
paying partly or fully for sub-
scriptions to Netflix, AmazonPrime and Hotstar.
“It’s still a small number.
The pricing is too high for a
customer base that is accus-
tomed to free or cheap con-
tent,” said Devangshu Dutta,
chief executive of retail con-
sultancy Third Eyesight. “Also,
there is a lot of fluidity in terms
of the platforms used. In India,
content and pricing will be
critical.” He added that both
Netflix and Amazon Prime are
“Indianizing” their content in
a big way. Pricing dynamics
are being worked out as well.
Amazon India started its
Prime video service in Decem-
ber 2016 and has since devel-
oped a strong fan base with hit
shows such as Made in Heaven
and Mirzapur.
The big question is—will
people watching the particular
content eventually buy the
products on the platform? It
needs a mental switch—the
mindset while shopping is
very different from what it is
while watching a movie or a
series.
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