Bengaluru, Dec 4: Two main entities controlled by Flipkart, India’s largest e-commerce firm, reported a loss of about `2,000 crore in the year ended March, up from a loss of `715 crore in the previous year, the Economic Times reported on Thursday, citing regulatory filings.
Sales at Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd and Flipkart India Pvt. Ltd trebled to `10,390 crore last fiscal year, the report said.
Flipkart, which has raised $2.6 billion over the past 18 months, has been spending huge amounts of money on discounts, marketing, boosting technology and building warehouses. The company is involved in a high-stake market share battle with Snapdeal (run by Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd) and Amazon India (Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd).
Since India bans foreign direct investment (FDI) in online retail, Singapore-registered Flipkart has devised a complicated maze of many inter-connected and some purportedly independent entities that raise massive amounts of money to build an integrated e-commerce business.
Flipkart sources goods from manufacturers, sells those goods to WS Retail Pvt. Ltd, a company with which it is closely linked, which in turn sells it to shoppers. Flipkart also has more than 50,000 third-party sellers.
The company provides the technology platform and logistics services and takes a commission on every sale on its site.
Flipkart India is the wholesale cash-and-carry entity, while Flipkart Internet is the marketplace arm which books commissions on each sale.
