BackFlipkart names Ankit Nagori as chief business officer
The firm is seeking to accelerate its shift to a marketplace model and triple the number of third-party sellers on its platform by December
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Bengaluru: Flipkart Ltd on Wednesday promoted marketplace operations head Ankit Nagori to the newly created role of chief business officer as India’s largest e-commerce firm seeks to accelerate its shift to a marketplace model and triple the number of third-party sellers on its platform by December.
Nagori’s earlier role was senior vice-president, marketplace. He will now oversee the marketplace business as well as the company’s retail and brand alliance function, which has ceased to exist on a separate basis. He will continue to report to Mukesh Bansal, head of Flipkart’s e-commerce platform.
“My key priorities this year are to drive the adoption of mobile app shopping, improve customer experience and have 100,000 sellers on the platform (from 30,000 currently)," Nagori said. “We want to make buying much easier for customers by enabling wider product selection, offering better deals and several payment options such as EMIs across products. I will also be working closely with the product and technology teams to enable SMEs (small and medium enterprises) to increase sales and sell more intelligently on our platform."
Nagori said the company is also working on ways to encourage direct interaction on the mobile between shoppers and its third-party sellers.
In his new role, Nagori will be responsible for striking partnerships with mobile phone makers, fashion retailers and other companies. Michael Adnani, vice-president, retail and head of brand alliances, will report to Nagori.
Flipkart started out as an online book retailer in 2007 but moved to a part-marketplace model in 2013. Over the past year, it has tried to increase the pace of this shift and reduce dependence on WS Retail Pvt. Ltd, its largest seller.
Last year, Flipkart’s sales got a fillip from its exclusive partnerships with smartphone makers Motorola and Xiaomi. Now the company is also signing up with retailers such as Shoppers Stop to expand its product offering.
“We want to increase our selection for buyers and apart from continuing to partner with brands in categories such as mobile phones, fashion, home and large appliances, we will also be striking partnerships with retailers in the country this year. We want the big retailers to be sellers on our platform," Nagori said.
After being appointed the company’s e-commerce platform head, Mukesh Bansal has been strengthening his management team by adding senior professionals from established firms. He hired Punit Soni and Peeyush Ranjan from Google Inc. as head of product and engineering, respectively, and recruited Saikiran Krishnamurthy from McKinsey as chief operating officer. Nagori is the only old-timer in his senior management team.
Overall, Flipkart’s senior management team comprises a mix of company veterans such as chief technology officer Amod Malviya and new recruits such as chief financial officer Sanjay Baweja. Since joining Flipkart as an assistant category manager in 2010, the 29-year-old Nagori has been among the fastest risers at the online retailer.
“At 29, Ankit will be among the youngest professionals at a senior position in a company of Flipkart’s scale," human resources head Mekin Maheshwari said. “Since Ankit joined us in 2010, he’s been an integral part of large new initiatives which have become differentiators such as the apparel launch, books expansion and the marketplace shift. His promotion highlights our policy of promoting internal talent by recognising potential and matching this with our priorities," he added.
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