After Snapdeal Flipkart forays into e-learning category with about 2000 products

Amidst speculation about Flipkart is in talks of raising USD one billion from existing and new investors, the ecommerce benemoth has launched e-learning category with over 1900 products and titles across brands like Career Launcher, Edurite, EduKart, Merit Nation, TCY Online and Practice Guru.

The category offers an exhaustive range of e-learning material, certification courses and online tests catering to students across engineering, management and medical verticals.

Importantly, prior to Flipkart Delhi based pure-play marketplace Snapdeal had launched online learning and education category with courses like test preparation material, certificate courses, classroom training etc. in February this year.

Besides e- leraning category the Bangalore based company will also be extending its virtual academic books vertical to feature a selection of offerings for students in schools, colleges and students appearing for competitive exams.

For initial users the company will be providing exclusive offers with upto 100% cash back on purchase of products under e-learning category with free shipping on all books orders for a limited period.

Commenting on this launch, Nipun Mehra, Sr. Director - Retail, Flipkart, said, “Learning is going digital. Both eBooks and digital coursework are seeing increasing adoption and Flipkart is well positioned to service the need. The availability of eBooks, certificate courses and online tests – all on one platform, will make the entire process of buying/accessing e-learning material very easy for students who form a significant part of our customer base today.”

With this move Flipkart seems not to leave any chance of attracting whole new set of consumers and building new categories. Earlier in June this year the company had launched a seven inch tablet - Digiflip Pro priced at Rs. 9999 under its own label. It also exclusively partnered with Xiaomi to sell its range of phones on the platform earlier this month.

A quick look at online learning market in India

Over the past few years, online learning space has grown significantly with hundreds of startups entering to grab the next billion dollar opportunity. It’s set to reach $1.29 billion in the next three years. Startups in learning space can use the Tiger Global funded platform to access its strong consumer base and leverage its marketing budget for wider reach.