According to recent research, online video consumption in India has doubled in the last 2 years to a whopping 3.7 billion videos per month. To break it down further, Indian consumers view 190 minutes of video per user per day across different platforms, as per a report by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The market has over 30 digital platforms for the same apart from a huge number of TV channels joining the party. The surge is partly being contributed to the fact that the Internet is now easily available and at affordable rates. The other reason is that people are now more choosy when it comes to accessing information, entertainment or social activities.
The latest to jump in the fray is e-commerce major Flipkart, backed by its owner company Walmart. It recently announced the launch of Flipkart Video Originals with a promise to produce “bespoke snackable content” that is both mobile-first and interactive. Integrated within the Flipkart Video platform, Flipkart Video Originals will be produced by well-known industry figures.
“All the main players are primarily anchored around fictional content,” said Prakash Sikaria, vice-president, growth, and monetization at Flipkart. He also added that while other over-the-top (OTT) platforms are focused on metropolitan centers, Flipkart would concentrate on Tier-II and –III cities. This new launch also takes the Flipkart vs Amazon competition to a new level.
The first creator to join Flipkart’s initiative is Academy Award-winner Guneet Monga, who has come on board as the official creator and curator of short stories for the platform. Flipkart will also work with renowned industry talent and production houses such as Studio Next, Frames and Sikhya Productions, to bring forth first-of-its-kind content across genres and languages. Sikaria also said when the company unveiled a Video platform earlier this year, the aim was to play a role in on-boarding new customers who are not necessarily new to the internet but are new to e-commerce.
From Shopping to Binge-Watch – All On Your Flipkart Account
