Flipkart, an online marketplace is planning to enter the brick-and-mortar space to boost its growth which is depleting in the online market. Initially the e-commerce firm is not likely to open its own stores, instead it will act as a master franchisee for foreign brands in the local market and sub-license the offline business.
To start its brick-and-mortar space, Flipkart is discussing with Giordano for a licensing deal to sell the Hong Kong-based apparel and accessory retailer’s products both offline and online in India. Besides, the e-commerce company will appoint sub-franchisees to operate its offline stores.
During the past years the growth in the e-commerce space has slowed down due to many online rivals and lesser discounts. This has led online ventures to look beyond the online platform and go offline. Online players such as Myntra, Urban Ladder, Pepperfry, Lenkskart, Faballey and Nykaa either set up hundreds of physical stores or are planning to open more.
Flipkart has earlier tried to enter into the offline store but things didn’t go in the right way. But this time to start with, Flipkart is looking to adopt a similar strategy as that of Myntra which it has used for selling third-party brands offline.