Flipkart has started rolling out a
free video streaming service to its customers in phases. The video service will offer syndicated content from partners such as production houses and other content platforms, including Hotstar, according to the people aware of the development.
The feature will be called Flipkart Video and will be available on the e-commerce giant's mobile application.
"Flipkart Video is a curated range of movies, shows and entertainment series for our consumers. Our video content offering is focused on three primary aspects, keeping in mind our understanding of the market: free, curated and personalised," a company spokesperson said in a statement.
One Flipkart official said that the video streaming service will be rolled out to all customers in a matter of 20 days.
Flipkart claims to have a registered user base of 160 million.
Flipkart's move towards video streaming was reported by Moneycontrol earlier on Monday. However, while the report mentioned that it would be available for customers on the Flipkart Plus loyalty programme, the company said that it will be available to all customers.
The focus will be on regional and vernacular content, the officials said.
According to a recent report by RedSeer Consulting, Hotstar is leading the content space with 300 million monthly active users, with Amazon Prime seeing 13 million monthly active users (MAUs) and Netflix at 11 million MAUs as of June 2019.
Netflix recently launched a mobile-only subscription plan of Rs 199 per month, while Amazon offers its Prime service for Rs 999 a year and Rs 129 per month.
