Walmart owned Flipkart is trying its hand at building a Shopify of its own, and has launched Shopsy, a platform that will allow small businesses and entrepreneurs to build catalogs of their products, facilitating e-commerce for companies that cannot afford to set up Flipkart-esque supply chains of their own.
Once you register on the app using your phone number, you will be able to share catalogs of 15 crore products offered by sellers, ranging across categories such as fashion, beauty, mobiles, electronics, and home, among others with potential customers via popular social media and messaging apps.
Entrepreneurs can register on the app and start their business as long as they have access to a network of people that trust them, without the hassle of investment, inventory, or logistics management. They can share catalogs with customers via social media and messaging apps, place orders on their behalf, and earn commissions on the transactions. The commission will depend on the category of products being ordered. It will be free for small businesses and individuals, but if you want to sell on Shopsy, then you need to pay the usual market fee.
According to Prakash Sikaria, senior vice-president for growth and monetization at Flipkart, Shopsy would also help resellers set up their own websites in the future.
“The order has to come back to you. Once you get an order that people need 10 t-shirts, you can come back on the app and place an order on Shopsy and it will be delivered by Flipkart,” Sikaria said.
“Entrepreneurs now will utilize Flipkart’s catalog, established delivery networks, and infrastructure to bring reliability and speed. These benefits will help them enhance the end consumers’ experience, which in turn will help them grow their business,” he said, adding that Flipkart would act as a conduit between sellers and customers and would introduce all kinds of interfaces, products, and modules.
For now, Shopsy’s aim is to provide digital commerce consumers with access to products by simplifying the process through interactions with a trusted person.
This comes amid mounting pressure on America based e-commerce firms in India, as Karnataka High Court allowed the CCI to resume its investigation of the homegrown e-commerce marketplace. Moreover, the BJP led government has also tightened e-commerce rules in the country, leading to increasing scrutiny.
