2017 will be a defining year for Flipkart: Sachin Bansal

Binny Bansal was recently elevated as the Group Chief Executive Officer whereas Kalyan Krishnamurthy, previously head of Category Design Organisation, was been appointed as the CEO of Flipkart.

Gandhinagar, Jan 11: 2017 will be a defining year for Flipkart as the company is looking to take "decisive lead" in the Indian market, its co-founder Sachin Bansal has said. The company, which recently announced top-level changes, said the restructuring is aimed at "improving operational efficiencies".

Earlier this week, in a major restructuring, Flipkart brought all its units under an umbrella firm and elevated Binny Bansal as the Group Chief Executive Officer. Kalyan Krishnamurthy, previously head of Category Design Organisation, has been appointed as the CEO of Flipkart. Sachin Bansal will continue as executive chairman.

"Its (restructuring) is about improving operational efficiencies so that we can execute on our plan...business is getting bigger...Binny moves to a bigger role to ensure there is more focus," Sachin Bansal said on the sidelines of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit.

The India's largest e-commerce firm is locked in an intense battle with one of the world's largest e-tailers, Amazon, in the Indian e-commerce market. The company has raised over USD 3 billion so far from investors like Tiger Global, Naspers and Accel Partners among others.

Asked if Flipkart is looking at another round of funding at a time when rival Amazon has been pumping in billions of dollars to strengthen its position in the Indian market, he said there are "no such plans right now". Bansal said that sales season has been defining for the company. "It has turned around things for us...given a positive momentum," he said.

He said the company will ensure that customers continue to get differentiated and great experience on the Flipkart platform. Bansal said that demonetisation (scrapping of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes) that lead to a spurt in digital transactions, has been "good" for the company. "We are seeing a lot of growth in digital transactions. Cash transactions have come down and digital transactions have gone up," he said.

PTI