E-commerce major Flipkart ties up with Microsoft on cloud to build business on land

Flipkart has partnered with Microsoft to use the Windows Azure technology platform to scale up its e-commerce business.

Flipkart will use Microsoft’s public cloud computing service. Public cloud is an industry term for using technology on a subscription basis through the internet. This announcement was made at Microsoft’s start-up event in Bengaluru where the US-based tech giant’s CEO Satya Nadella was also present.

The partnership comes at a time when the e-commerce retailer is taking a beating. In November last year, Morgan Stanley, an investor in the company, slashed the value of its Flipkart shares by 38.2 per cent, thereby pegging its valuation at $5.54 billion. This is a big drop from 2015, when it commanded a heady $15.2 billion valuation.

To get its mojo back, Flipkart is trying to leverage industry partnerships such as the one with Microsoft. “Using Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence technology, Machine Learning and analytics, we can scale faster,” said Binny Bansal, Group CEO and Co-founder, Flipkart.

“I have always been an admirer what Flipkart has done, in not only starting e-commerce, but also in payments and logistics,” Nadella said.

This partnership allows Flipkart to make online shopping more relevant to its customers, industry watchers said. Fliplart has around 10 million customers who have used its platform and Bansal said he is looking for ways to increase this number ten-fold in the next decade.

Using Cortana tech Bansal cited the example of using Microsoft’s Cortana, an intelligent personal attendant, through which customers can get automated suggestions through voice. “We are looking at ways wherein the right products can be recommended and fashion can be personalised,” he added.

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