With free video-streaming services, Flipkart all set to take on Amazon Prime

The video streaming market in India has been on fire right now, with significant growth in the demand for both free and premium content among the consumers, who’re shifting from the traditional content consumption.

The latest big news is coming from the e-commerce giant Flipkart which will launch its own free video streaming service around Diwali, as per Moneycontrol's report.

The Walmart owned company will be offering its new service to its Flipkart Plus members, an attempt to challenge Amazon which offers its Prime Video streaming service to its Prime members. 

Flipkart Plus, which was launched in August last year is a coin based loyalty program where consumers can become a member by spending money on the e-commerce platform and earning “ Super Coins”.

Every consumer who manages to accumulate 300 coins gets to be the part of Flipkart Plus which allows them to gain access to premium services including free and quicker delivery, early access sales on the marketplace, and priority customer support. 

Entrackr had reported the probable launch of video streaming in December last year.

Although this concept is much inspired by Amazon’s own Prime Membership, Flipkart is purely loyalty-based and is not a paid offering yet.

Launched in 2016, Amazon Prime fuels its video streaming department with the huge pool of revenue its parent entity generates. They produced original content for Indian viewers in regional languages and manage to acquire the streaming rights of the latest Indian movies.

Their original creations like Inside Edge and Mirzapur managed to grip the audiences across the country and got rave reviews. They have doubled their subscriber base in India over the last 18 months, and have managed to penetrate the tier 2 and 3 cities with at least 50% of the new users coming from these smaller towns and cities.

There are no confirmations regarding Flipkart’s plans regarding the production of their own content but there are talks with Bollywood production houses and content creators regarding the streaming rights of India focussed content to be streamed on their new platform.

The new development will add to the rapidly growing Indian OTT market, which has been an attractive space with investments from traditional players like Balajee Telefilms and Zee Media to Global players such as Netflix and Prime video vying for market share in the country.

To get a foothold amongst millennials in smaller cities, Netflix had recently launched a mobile-only subscription at Rs 199.

As per a recent PWC report, the Indian market is rising at a higher rate than the global average. It is projected to grow at 22.6% CAGR,  from $297 million in 2017 to $823 million in 2022.