Return of GMV: Flipkart witnesses 43% growth in gross merchandise value in 6 months

Ecommerce platform Flipkart has observed a jump of 43% in gross merchandise value (GMV) for the six months ended 30 September, according to a financial report from Naspers, which is also one of Flipkart’s largest shareholders.

The South African firm, which currently holds a 14% stake in the Bengaluru-based company, did not disclose the exact GMV of the e-commerce company.

The report also added that the ecommerce company has seen the jump in its market share from the year-ago period. Flipkart’s share of monthly GMV stood at roughly 58% in June this year, up from 45% in June 2016.

“During the recent festive season sales period, Flipkart captured around 70% of the total e-commerce market. It has also secured substantial capital from investors—including Tencent and SoftBank—to continue building its position as a leading business-to-consumer (B2C) platform in the fast-growing Indian market,” Naspers said in its half-yearly report.

The development was first reported by Mint.

On the other hand, Amazon India disputes the claim that it lags behind the rival platform. According to Amazon, its way of calculating gross sales could be different from that used by Flipkart.

The Seattle-headquartered company claimed that it witnessed the growth in unit sales by 85% in the first quarter and 88% in the second quarter of this year, over the comparable period in 2016.

“We are leaders in selection, customer traffic, mobile app store rankings and daily active app users among shopping apps as per independent and credible third party sources. As of June 2017, we lead the second largest player in traffic by 58% on PC, 129% on mobile web and have 52% more app downloads,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an email, citing Similarweb and App Annie data.

Amazon announced on Wednesday that it witnessed over 105% growth in revenues in India in the fiscal year 2017.

However, filings with the Registrar of Companies Amazon revealed that Amazon Seller Services, which earns through commissions, advertisements and shipping fees, registered a growth of 41% in FY17 with a revenue of Rs 3,128 crore.

Recently, research and advisory firm RedSeer Consulting released a report and said that the two top online retailers Flipkart and Amazon are in a close fight in the e-commerce sector in India. While Flipkart holds sway in tier-II and tier-III cities, Seattle-headquartered Amazon takes a lead in metro cities.