Flipkart launches app-like mobile website in partnership with Google

Flipkart is to provide a whole new mobile browsing experience with its new app-like mobile website which it is launching in partnership with Google. The app-like website has been named Flipkart Lite and is optimized for the connections with low bandwidth. Flipkart Lite offers app features such as home screen access and push notifications. Flipkart Lite went live this Monday and has been launched exclusively on Google chrome. It is company’s return to mobile browser experience after it shut down in April this year owing to the app-only model.

The Flipkart Lite can be added to the home screen and has a user interface that is as fluid and dynamic as that of an app. Product listings on Flipkart Lite are followed by a notification containing link to an offer on the product on Flipkart app. The browser version didn’t had any Ping features.
Flipkart has built this browser-app hybrid experience in partnership with Google. It has been optimized to take advantage of the chrome’s new support for notifications feature and home screen access. As reported by Re/code, the chrome team has given Flipkart access to its three new tools which also includes Service workers. This tool is intended to help develop for the poor internet. The report quotes Chrome product manager Rahul Roy Chowdhury saying that the first one to take advantage of chrome’s all new tools is Flipkart and that Google hopes this will be followed by other websites as well.

The e-com companies have been trying hard to up their app retention rates, but we will see how it compares to this new concept and how customers rate one over the other. Myntra – Flipkart’s fashion brand has not been integrated with the mobile – browser experience and is available only as app. However, it might be next in the queue. Flipkart has been planning to launch Flipkart Lite since April, when it hired former Peeyush Ranjan (former Google executive) as CTO. Also there were rumors that Flipkart will go app-only. However, Punit Soni, chief product officer at Flipkart said it won’t do so.