Flipkart Debuts Free Video Streaming Service to Rival Amazon Prime
The Walmart-owned online retailer will offer licensed content without creating a new app to its users for free.
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The Indian video streaming segment gets a new player on Monday, as Flipkart becomes the latest online platform looking to battle Amazon, Netflix and others.
Interestingly, according to a Reuters report, Flipkart plans on offering the content through licensed deals with various production houses on the shopping app itself.
With over 160 million users on board with the e-commerce giant, people are expected to consume content on-the-go, something which has become the trend with falling data prices in the country.
The company is testing out the updated version of the app with 1 percent of its total userbase and according to the spokesperson quoted in the report, the feature will be made available to all the users in the next few weeks.
Flipkart’s entry comes at a time when Netflix has announced its cheapest ever plan, catering to mobile users in the country. At Rs 199, Netflix thinks that more users are likely to find its content appealing, even though it is restricted to single device usage (mobile or tablet at a time) only.
Unlike Amazon, Netflix and Hotstar offering original content, Flipkart confirmed it won’t be working on original content for now.
The Walmart-owned online retailer will be hoping the lure of a ‘free’ service will help the platform add new set of users, resulting in more people visiting the app, and probably buying products every now and then. Reliance Jio is the other player in this space to offer video content for free but that is limited to users with an active Jio mobile number.
Understandably, Flipkart wants to attract users in the non-metro regions, which is an indication that the content will be mostly regional, and shows listed will be relevant to all kind of audience.
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