The Flip(side)Kart

I used to love Flipkart- really! It was in many ways a part of my initiation into the world of e-commerce. I loved the idea of buying books and other miscellaneous items online- the convenience of it was just great.

I knew there was Amazon- somewhere in the other end of the world- but Flipkart seemed to be enough to keep me satisfied as a customer.

A couple of years later- 2013:

Amazon.in was launched- I still didn't care. And then, a friend told me about the free shipping on all orders on Amazon- no minimum shopping required.

Then, I began to care.

I bought my first book on amazon.in for Rs.159- no shipping fee; the product arrived in 2 days; I shopped again, and then again, and again.

Amazon slowly became my habit.

***

I would occasionally purchase on Flipkart- whenever I received a voucher for my "paid blog posts", or a voucher from friends- but that was it...

Some more years later- in 2016 (now):

• I make random purchases on Flipkart- on a whim
• Order takes 2 weeks to get delivered!
• I get custom made replies from Customer service while enquiring about the status
• Through this experience, I resolve never to purchase on FlipKart again

***

There are many reasons why FlipKart is losing grounds to Amazon- some being:

1.     Poor customer service- On Amazon, I would get quick responses and sometimes, even a compensation for delivery mishaps etc. These would allay my negative experiences; on FlipKart on the other hand, well!

2.     Long delivery times- Not just the book, but the flower pot, the seeds, the saree and many more that I ordered- took their own sweet times to be delivered/ cancelled

3.     Diluting the focus on its core business (called services) while delving into other models

o    Flipkart introduced a new feature to help small businesses a couple of weeks back. This is probably something on the lines of Alibaba's business model; some months earlier, it introduced the idea of Flipkart seller (that allowed individuals to sell their products through its marketplace infrastructure). While these aren't bad business decisions, the company is probably diluting the end user experience through such introductions. Maybe, the longer delivery times are because of poorly managed "Flipkart sellers"? One may want to understand. While it is important to innovate in this space, it should not be at the cost of a lost customer experience!

4.     Bad publicity- the Big billion days have been nothing short of fiascos; poorly managed inventories, false promises, misquoted prices and many more. While these are common faux pas' of ecommerce companies, some of these could have clearly been avoided! Flipkart probably hasn't done anything significant in changing that perceprion while continuing to follow its discounting technique with its customers. Also worthy of notice is the perception of investment gurus like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala on the valuation of this company...

Anyways, here's some advice to Flipkart:

Focus on customer experience; perfect it. Make some prudent profits. Your success hangs dangerously on it, and you know it!