How 'Flipkart Stories' drives consumers to Flipkart

Launched in 2015, Flipkart Stories produce engaging stories of people and places along with latest updates on lifestyle, technology space, etc., helping the brand build consumer engagement, trust and thus leads

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Akansha Srivastava
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It’s easier for a brand to generate sales when it has informed consumers and content marketing plays an important role in informing the consumers, building brand, gaining trust and in return fetching sales leads in the long run.

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Senjam Raj Shekhar

This is what e-commerce giant Flipkart has decided to do with the launch of Flipkart Stories in September 2015, which now claims to attract nearly half a million visits a month. “Close to 70% of the outbound traffic of Flipkart Stories goes to the Flipkart mother site. Combined with the strength of the Flipkart stories’ social media handles, the average reach of Flipkart stories is 2.5 million readers a month,” Senjam Raj Shekhar, Vice-President and Head of Corporate Communications, Flipkart, said.

“The site thus has played an important role in creating an informed shopper who then goes on to shop on Flipkart. More than the numbers, we are happy to have narrated several untold stories like about how Flipkart has empowered   differently-abled or transgender customers by giving them access and choice or how lives have changed in remote iconic places like Pokharan, Naxalbari and Jhumri Telaiya because of Flipkart. We are happy to have inspired other companies, including our competitors, to launch similar platforms,” added Shekhar.

Flipkart Stories is designed as a storytelling platform where anybody who is interested in Flipkart – from the customers and business partners to the employees and potential employees – can read and share the stories.

Flipkart Stories has primary two kinds of content. Stories that talk about various parts of Flipkart – from people stories to customer stories and informative pieces that customers can use.

Shekhar said, “It is our intent to build a credible and trusted platform that readers can rely on for stories on Flipkart. It has over the years become a one-stop destination for people who are interested in getting a 360-degree view of Flipkart.”

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(L-R) Arjun Paul, Bijoy Venugopal, Sera Cherian, Sophia Stephen and Jishnu Murali

The Flipkart Stories team consists of five members: writers, designers, editors and digital analytics specialists. Bijoy Venugopal, formerly the Travel Editor of Yahoo, is the editor of Flipkart Stories.

The Flipkart Stories work in the same manner as any global independent media platform would do. “Readers today are attracted to content that is more engaging and authentic. Our aim is to create a dynamic editorial platform that is styled like a digital media website using the same format and techniques. All stories have to go through the editorial filter of quality, authenticity and readability. We actively encourage our readers to share and comment. They are free to comment about the story and the comments are not moderated by the editorial team,” said Shekhar.

The story of the   first-ever Flipster - Ambur Iyyappa, whose mind inspired Flipkart’s ERP and the   first customer of Flipkart have been two of our most popular stories. Our customer stories, including one in world’s only Sanskrit villages of   Mattur and Hosahalli; the ones from   Naxalbari (the village that gave the world Naxalite);  Mughal Sarai and   Pokharan, have also been very popular.

Shekhar said, “Our   Fliptale series that talks about our people stories have always been a hit with Flipsters as well as potential employees. Some of the more popular one include ones on our  women engineers, women in   data analytics, on Flipsters who are   Penguin Dads.”

Soon, Flipkart Stories will launch a new look and refreshed content of the website. “The new site scores very high on interactivity and intuitive design.  And of course, lot of interesting stories,” concluded Shekhar.

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