With over 20 million users and more than 100% year-on-year growth since it was launched in August 2018, Flipkart Plus has grown into one of the most successful reward-based loyalty programs in India offering a host of benefits for Flipkart customers. Today, around 30% of monthly active users on Flipkart are Plus members. These are encouraging metrics for an earned loyalty program with no subscription fee, and Prakash Sikaria, Senior Vice President, Growth and Monetisation at Flipkart, expressed confidence upon Flipkart Plus crossing this new milestone.
Excerpts from a Q&A
Reaching a 20-million customer base within three years of launch is a significant milestone for Flipkart Plus. How do you feel about the journey so far?
Our loyalty program, Flipkart Plus, was created with a vision to nurture customer relationships and make shopping on Flipkart rewarding. The consistent growth in Flipkart Plus membership over the years is a testament to our customers’ trust in Flipkart, and the growing relevance of e-commerce in their daily purchases. This program is a way to thank all our customers who have supported us in our growth journey.
What drives Indian shoppers towards loyalty and reward programs like Flipkart Plus? Have you garnered any key insights?
Our research shows that, for Indians, shopping is an emotional decision. Rewarding shopping unconditionally invokes a positive emotional bond with the brand. This was a key insight that led to the creation of the Flipkart Plus program. This phenomenon is more pronounced in heartland cities across Tier 2+ regions in India.
Today, 75% of our Flipkart Plus members come from a base that has not been part of any loyalty program/credit card/reward program before. And our data indicates that 75% of our existing Plus customers renew their memberships each year. This is an encouraging sign of aspiration, suggesting that our customers value the benefits and understand the rewards.
What differentiates Flipkart Plus from other loyalty programs today?
You can’t buy loyalty. What sets Flipkart Plus apart is that it is an earned loyalty program, with no subscription fee, and is designed to delight a very diverse set of Flipkart customers. Among the various benefits that Plus members enjoy include access to free and fast delivery, priority customer support, unique Flipkart Pay Later options, and curated benefits from ecosystem partners across travel, OTT, F&B, Lifestyle, and Health & Fitness, to name a few. In turn, the program has driven significant engagement among Flipkart users. Flipkart Plus members, on average, transact 5X more and have 7X higher spends compared to the rest of the shopper base.
This makes every experience so rewarding that our customers come back to shop almost on a daily basis.
Have you considered taking the loyalty program to the larger ecosystem?
We did an externalization pilot for our rewards program in late 2020 in collaboration with over 5,000 partner stores. Throughout 2021, we have been working on using learnings from the pilot and taking SuperCoins to a larger ecosystem. We are now ready with relevant technology to leverage existing payment apps to make reward redemption happen in an offline environment.
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With SuperCoins in synergy with UPI, we are working on enabling partners in the ecosystem across categories like fashion, grocery, food and beverages, travel, and health and wellness, to accept payments.
Traditional reward programs haven’t achieved their full potential because of their restricted opportunities to convert points to rewards, while being limited within their own business ecosystem. Flipkart’s rewards ecosystem helps overcome these challenges meaningfully, by bringing together a wide range of partners and helping customers derive enhanced value and flexibility.
Learn more about Flipkart Plus and SuperCoins
