Flipkart unveils a new social commerce platform

The ban on 59 Chinese apps by the Indian government seems to have opened the doors for Indian replacements in ways unimagined before.

Sensing an opportunity almost every one is moving in quickly. For instance, social media platform ShareChat has launched the short-video app Moj on the Google Play Store.

And in another swift thrust, Walmart's Indian e-commerce biggie, Flipkart, has unveiled a new social commerce platform: 'social.2gud.com'. 

This is a tweak on the Flipkart's existing 2gud.com, an independent value platform for certified refurbished goods. Flipkart had earlier launched it after eBay India shuttered down.

The new social commerce platform will purvey its products through influencer-led video clips. It is primarily aimed at consumers from small towns and lower-income groups, Flipkart sources have been quoted as saying in Economic Times.

The other main existing players in the Indian social commerce space are Mall91, WMall, SimSim, and Bulbul.

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JUST IN - - @Flipkart is piloting a new social commerce platform - 2GudSocial - with influencer-led video commerce. AND @sharechatapp has silently launched its short-video app Moj, a direct replica of TikTok on the Google Play Store-48 hours into the China apps ban @sangha_karJuly 1, 2020

Combining social & commerce

Quite simply, the fresh venture will put to use video content to help resellers sell products across categories like fashion retail, mobiles and electronics and accessories.

The interface of social.2Gud.com is currently live for mobile phones and, one look at it, you will be taken in by the similarity with TikTok videos. There is swipe up or down feature, icon placement and more.

Clearly, the idea is to tap into the popularity of the 'celebrities' of the Chinese apps and leverage the same for e-commerce. Chinese apps have an estimated 200-300 million unique users in the country, and many from smaller towns and cities had dedicated viewers base.

But this is not exactly the first project of Flipkart in the social commerce domain. 

It previously had 'Flipkart Ideas' - an Instagram-like feed for digital influencers. Users could have a look at the content generated by the influencers as well as brands, and shop for products from within the Ideas tab.

Flipkart Ideas feed, meant for registered users, covered 14 categories, that included, among others, food, travel, reading, gadgets, fashion, health & fitness, parenting. 

Flipkart had then said that “Flipkart Ideas improves users’ lifestyle with credible, inspiring and useful content, which will educate and inspire them in the purchase journey."

The same idea has rebirthed in a different avatar now.

Via: Economic Times.

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