For the record; though registered in Singapore, Flipkart is an Indian company operating only in India with majority of its workforce being Indians. Why is it registered in Singapore then? For obvious reasons; less paperwork, easy to raise funds and perform acquisitions.
Now my concern; Is Flipkart losing customers more than it gains? We cannot be sure, for the time being as there isn't a worthy competitor yet. But the fact that Flipkart is indeed losing customers is undeniable and the reasons are many. When Flipkart was born, we patriotic Indians had an indomitable love towards it and went crazy over online shopping and thus Flipkart became the poster boy of Indian start-ups and e-commerce sites.(extensively used phrase for Flipkart.Sorry.Couldn't find a better fitting phrase.)
Flipkart which started as an online book store in 2007 gradually expanded their product base. In 2013, they made their entry into the android app market and now are deciding on shutting down their website and adopting a mobile-only platform. We all have been witness to the dramatic growth of Flipkart and have accompanied Flipkart through their ups and downs as Flipkart is consistently re-inventing and certain decisions have gone perfectly against them. In 2012, flipkart launched Flyte digital music store, but had to shut it down the following year as people in India never bought music when they could download or stream music for free. And in 2013 they brought in third-party sellers to get rid of inventory and to increase the number of product choices, however certain sellers did more damage than good to the brand Flipkart (fake MRPs, delivering products of a different brand than the ordered one, charging extra for delivery, delay in shipment, etcetera) forcing Flipkart to introduce seller rating-system and enforcing stricter rules for sellers to gain the Flipkart advantage. Flipkart however controls the end-to-end logistics and customer complaints which comes as a relief amidst other problems. With a hundred other online shopping portals sprouting on the web every single day and the rich Amazon and an astute Snapdeal close behind in the race for the superstar Crown, Flipkart has a lot of striving to do. And Indian customers for sure are hard to please.
Having said all these, does Flipkart still own the trust of Indian shoppers? One major setback which Flipkart faced was the "Big Billion Day" and that has been etched in history forever, a lesson which Flipkart learned the hard way. Flipkart is still facing the wrath of several customers who take up to social media when they find products with fake offers and manipulated MRPs. The BIG question is; Is Flipkart learning from its mistakes? Will they continue to reinvent to stay as favorites?
FLIPKART; will it be the greatest success story or the biggest slump story? TIME knows...
Below are few links which you may refer to enlighten yourselves about the FLIP-side story of flipkart !!
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| Manipulated MRP & OFFER |
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| Flipkart's Price After Offer is the Actual Price Of Product On The Brand’s Website |
Is flipkart really the best? Quorans Answer..
The eCOMMERCE Giants !!
FLIPKART exposed on FACEBOOK- one example
Big Billion blunders
Quorans Talk about 'BIG BILLION' sale
APP-only mode!! Seriously?
A detailed and well researched post.
ReplyDeleteYou're getting better with every post, and I'm getting more and more envier of you 😊
A good read indeed.This App only concept will surely determine the customer base for flipkart.Nothing close to getting the feel of a product at a store.No one can force consumers into ways of buying stuff.Personally feel that doing away with their website is a boomerang idea..Vl have to wait nd watch
ReplyDeleteE-commerce players like Amazon and Snapdeal are already getting ready to face the competition that they 'll get from Flipkart during Big Billion Days.
ReplyDeleteE-commerce players like Amazon and Snapdeal are already getting ready to face the competition that they 'll get from Flipkart during Big Billion Days.
ReplyDelete