Episode 6 | How Flipkart Cracked the Indian Consumer Code | Interstellar ft. Smrithi Ravichandran

Switching from a coveted FMCG job to an industry that was barely taking shape was one of the riskiest career moves in 2011. But Smrithi Ravichandran took a leap of faith into ecommerce when most were still figuring out what it meant.

What drove her? A strong belief that technology would transform how Indian consumers shop and behave.

As one of Flipkart's earliest employees, Smrithi has lived through every phase of India’s ecommerce story, all the way from convincing customers to buy online, building trust and affordability, to now, racing ahead with quick commerce. She’s led game-changing categories like electronics, grocery, and mobiles.

In this episode of Interstellar, she talks about what’s changed in the Indian consumer, how to build brands in electronics, whether vertical quick commerce can work, and Flipkart’s bet on the $50B smartphone market.

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Reach Smrithi Ravichandran:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smrithi-ravichandran-a139289/

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Reach Rahul Chowdhri:

X: https://x.com/rchowdhri

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulchowdhri/

in this episode, we cover

(00:00): Coming Up

(01:20): Introduction

(02:41): FMCG to Flipkart: Why did you make this move?

(05:15): Surprises in the early days at Flipkart

(06:54): How consumers have evolved since Flipkart’s inception

(12:16): Why lifestyle focus for smartphones?

(13:41): How can brands tackle the complexity of SKUs?

(14:34): Gaps to be solved in ecommerce

(17:55): Voice search: has it worked?

(20:28): Premiumization trend in the smartphone category

(24:09): Second-hand smartphone marketplace opportunity

(27:14): Service layers for added revenue

(31:02): Is the electronics category profitable or a GMV driver?

(35:11): Flipkart’s private label strategy in electronics

(37:17): Subscription services

(40:04): Opportunities for emerging brands in consumer electronics

(41:24): ‘Made-in-India’ as a consumer demand

(44:27): Can Indian consumer electronics brands go global?

(46:24): Quick commerce for electronics

(50:31): SKU planning for electronics quick commerce

(52:21): What’s quick for the electronics category?

(54:32): Discounting on quick commerce platforms

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Find us on

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/550RoqvavxjC2pl8Ma7LHa?si=0ebd5040b11c4ac5

Apple podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/interstellar-by-stellaris/id1794113841

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