Flipkart Ads Tutorial
A Flipkart Ads tutorial shows sellers how to promote their products inside Flipkart's app and website. Flipkart Ads is the marketplace's advertising platform, and its main self-service format for sellers is the product listing ad, which places a listing higher in search results and category pages and charges mostly per click.
- Main format: Product listing ads that show a seller's own listings in search, browse and product pages, marked as ads.
- Where to run them: The advertising section of Flipkart Seller Hub, with larger brand formats available through Flipkart's ad team.
- Campaign styles: An automated option that aims for a return target, and a manual option where the seller chooses more of the settings.
- Key metric: Flipkart's reports have used ROI to mean ad revenue divided by ad spend, which is ROAS.
- Peak moments: Sale events such as Big Billion Days bring more shoppers and more competition for ad slots.
This tutorial follows one example: a family business in Ludhiana that makes woollen sweaters, cardigans and kids' winter wear, and sells mostly on Flipkart. Demand jumps from October to January, and the owner wants to use Flipkart Ads to grab that season without paying more for ads than each sweater earns.
Prerequisites for Flipkart Ads
- An active seller account: The business must be a verified Flipkart seller with GST details and live listings.
- Stock for the season: Ads on a listing that goes out of stock stop delivering and waste the learning the campaign has built.
- Complete listings: Clear photos from several angles, the right size chart, fabric details and a precise title, since every click lands on that page. See product feed optimization.
- An ad wallet or payment method: Flipkart has typically asked sellers to add money to an advertising balance before campaigns run.
- Break-even ROAS per product: The owner calculates, for each sweater, the lowest return at which ads still make money, using the method in break-even ROAS per SKU.
Setup: Find the Advertising Section
- Log in to Flipkart Seller Hub and open the advertising or ads section.
- Add funds or a payment method for ad spend, if the console asks for it.
- Choose to create a new campaign and pick the product listing ads option.
- Name campaigns clearly, for example "PLA | Men cardigans | Auto" and "PLA | Kids sweaters | Manual", so reports make sense later.
Step-by-Step: Launch Flipkart Ads for the Winter Season
Step 1: Group Products by Margin
Put products with similar prices and margins in the same campaign. The Ludhiana brand makes three groups: men's cardigans with a healthy margin, women's pullovers with a medium margin, and kids' sweaters with a thin margin. Each group gets its own campaign, budget and return target, so a loss on one group cannot hide inside the average of another.
Step 2: Pick the Campaign Type
For the first campaign, the automated option is usually simpler: Flipkart chooses where to show the ads and adjusts bids toward the return target you set. Set that target at or a little above the group's break-even ROAS. A manual option, where available, gives more control over keywords and bids once you know which searches sell.
Step 3: Set Budget and Dates
Set a daily or total budget that the business can afford while the campaign learns, and give the campaign an end date that covers the season. Avoid starting a brand-new campaign on the first day of a big sale, because it has no history and competition is at its highest.
Step 4: Choose Products Within Each Campaign
Add only listings that are in stock in most sizes, priced competitively and rated well. A cardigan with a low rating will struggle to convert however high the bid, so fix the listing or leave it out.
Step 5: Launch and Wait for Data
Let the campaign run for about a week before changing it. Early numbers swing a lot, and frequent changes reset the learning. During this time, check daily only that spend is within budget and products are in stock.
Step 6: Read the Reports
| Metric | What it tells the sweater brand | Typical action |
|---|---|---|
| Views | How often the ads were shown | Low views: raise the budget or target |
| Clicks and CTR | Whether shoppers found the ad appealing | Low CTR: improve the main image and price |
| Units sold | Orders credited to the ads | Compare with orders from organic search |
| Revenue and ROI | Ad sales and ad sales per rupee spent | Compare ROI with break-even ROAS |
If a group's ROI stays below its break-even ROAS for two weeks, lower its target or remove the weakest products. If it stays well above, raise the budget for that group.
Step 7: Plan for Big Billion Days
A few weeks before the sale, confirm stock, sale prices and the margin at those prices, since discounts shrink margin and raise break-even ROAS. Raise budgets only for groups that stay profitable at sale prices, and watch spend each day, because budgets can run out early when traffic peaks.
Step 8: Compare With Your Other Channels
Put Flipkart results beside your Amazon and website numbers in one sheet. The Amazon Ads tutorial uses similar metrics, and the ROAS vs ACoS vs TACoS lesson explains how to compare them fairly.
Common Mistakes
- Treating ROI as profit: An ROI of 4 can still lose money on a thin-margin kids' sweater, because ROI in these reports ignores product cost and fees.
- One campaign for all products: Combining different margins in one campaign hides which individual products are losing money.
- Advertising broken sizes: Ads for a sweater that is available only in XXL waste clicks from every shopper who needs another size.
- Late sale planning: Campaigns started on the first sale day have no history to learn from.
- Stopping all ads after the sale: Some brands see organic sales fall when ads stop, so reduce spend gradually and watch the effect.
Next Steps
- Retail media basics: Read what is retail media for the ideas behind every marketplace ad tool.
- Direct sales: Build a channel you control with D2C marketing in India.
- Faster channels: Winter caps and gloves can also sell on quick commerce apps, covered in quick commerce marketing.
How AI Changes Flipkart Ads
What AI Automates Now
Automated campaigns already pick placements and adjust bids toward a return target. Flipkart has also announced AI tools for sellers, such as help writing listings and creating product images, and it keeps adding automation to its advertising tools.
What Still Needs a Human
Only the owner knows the real cost of each sweater, how much stock is left in each size, and which designs to clear before the season ends. A person must set the return target, group products by margin, and decide when an ad should stop because stock is running out.
Risk to Watch
An automated campaign given a target below break-even will happily spend to reach it. AI-made product images can also show a colour or knit that does not match the real sweater, which leads to returns. Set targets from margin, and check every image against the product.
Do It with AI
Use this prompt to turn a Flipkart campaign export into clear decisions; it works in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
You are a marketplace ads analyst for a small apparel brand in India selling on Flipkart. Product groups and their break-even ROAS: [group name and break-even ROAS for each] Below is a Flipkart Ads report for [date range] with campaign, product, views, clicks, units sold, ad spend and ad revenue in INR. [paste the report] 1. Calculate ROAS (ad revenue divided by ad spend) for each product and each campaign. 2. Compare each figure with its group's break-even ROAS and label it: scale, hold or cut. 3. List products with many clicks but few units, and suggest listing fixes to check (image, price, sizes, rating). 4. Suggest how to split the next week's budget across groups, in percentages, with a one-line reason each. Use only this data. Do not invent benchmarks or typical conversion rates.
- Export the campaign report and remove any customer details before pasting.
- Run the prompt and recalculate ROAS by hand for two products.
- Fix the listings flagged in point 3 before raising any budget.
- Apply the budget split and review again after one week.
Check Before You Use It
- Facts: Match every figure with the Seller Hub report, and confirm stock levels before scaling.
- Brand fit: Keep the brand's pricing and discount policy, even if the AI suggests deeper cuts.
- Compliance: Follow Flipkart's advertising and listing policies, and never claim "pure wool" unless the fabric content supports it.
Quick Quiz
Pick an answer to check yourself. Nothing is saved.
Question 1 / 3
1. The Ludhiana sweater brand sees an ROI of 5 in its Flipkart report. What does that number mean?
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Flipkart product listing ads?
Product listing ads are sponsored placements of a seller's own listings in Flipkart search results, category pages and product pages. They carry an ad label and are usually charged per click, with the seller setting a budget and campaign dates.
Where do I create Flipkart Ads as a seller?
Sellers usually create campaigns from the advertising section of Flipkart Seller Hub. Brands with larger budgets can also work with Flipkart's advertising team for banner, video and brand placements. Menu names change, so check the current Seller Hub layout.
Is Flipkart ROI the same as ROAS?
In Flipkart's ad reports, ROI has generally meant the revenue from ads divided by the ad spend, which is what most marketers call ROAS. It is not profit, so compare it with each product's break-even ROAS before calling a campaign profitable.
Should I run Flipkart Ads during Big Billion Days?
Many sellers do, because shopper traffic is high, but bids and competition also rise. Plan stock, prices and budgets before the event, raise budgets only for products that are profitable at sale prices, and watch spend closely each day.
Related Articles
- Amazon Ads TutorialAmazon Ads tutorial for Indian sellers: set up Sponsored Products, Brands and Display, choose keywords and bids, and read reports, with a Jaipur example.
- What is Retail MediaWhat is retail media? Learn how Amazon, Flipkart and Blinkit sell ads on their own apps, with a Kochi coconut oil brand example and a ready AI prompt.
- ROAS vs ACoS vs TACoSROAS vs ACoS vs TACoS compared: the formula for each, what each one hides, and when to use it, with a worked Hyderabad pickle brand example on Amazon.
- Break-Even ROAS per SKUBreak-even ROAS per SKU explained: find contribution margin before ad spend and the lowest ROAS each product can afford, with an Indore namkeen example.
- Product Feed Optimization with AIProduct feed optimization with AI: fix titles, attributes and images for Google Shopping and marketplaces, and fact-check every rewrite before upload.
- D2C Marketing in IndiaD2C marketing in India, step by step: unit economics, first channels, UPI checkout, opt-in lists and repeat orders, with a Bengaluru millet brand example.