What Leads Flipkart in E Commerce Market?
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Flipkart started business operations from 2007 onwards and, to start with, its main aim was to provide easy access to books on the web to consumers.
- movies
- computers
- music
- personal and healthcare products
- games
- home appliances
- mobiles
- electronics
- cameras
Flipkart is regarded among the leading e-commerce organizations of India for the following reasons:
- 11.5 million books
- Ranked among the top 30 Indian websites by Alexa rankings
- 11 categories of products
- 8 million views per month
- 2 million plus registered users
- Staff strength - 4500
- 30 thousand products sold everyday
- elivery network comprising 27 cities
Flipkart Facilities for Consumers
Flipkart believes in providing its customers with the very best in online shopping and thus offers the following benefits for them:
- Cash on delivery
- Free shipping
- 30 day replacement policy
- Unmatched price range
- EMI options
The delivery team of Flipkart is one of its major assets thanks to its 24X7 work ethic. Every member of the team works hard to ensure the timely delivery of the packages. At present, the management is making plans to expand its operations to more cities across India.
Flipkart Business Strategies and Future Plans
Flipkart has recently come up with Flyte, which is an e-commerce store where the members will be able to buy songs. This platform is different from ones like Gaana.com where users can come and listen to their favorite songs and then connect with other people in their social network.
Latest Aquisition
It has also recently acquired letsbuy.com for $25 million dollars. The organization was able to seal the deal thanks to the common investors Accel Partners and Tiger Global. So far Flipkart has been tied down with the tag of a bookseller and it is expected that this acquisition will help it substantially increase its product range.
The acquisition of Letsbuy is an important one for Flipkart as it has been doing well in the consumer electronics segment. The industry has likened it to Amazon’s purchase of Junglee but Sachin Bansal, the CEO and co founder of Flipkart, has ruled out such a possibility stating the deal was being discussed for some time and thus cannot be considered an offshoot of the same.
Bansal has also informed the media that the deal was good enough for them from a financial point of view. Another e-commerce site, Snapdeal, has recently generated funds from investors on the basis of its valuation of 200 million dollars. The worth of Flipkart has been estimated at 1 billion dollars.
It is being stated that this agreement will help Flipkart establish itself as one of the leaders of the Indian consumer electronics market. It will also allow both the organizations to increase their operations at a quicker rate. Bansal has informed the media that the deal is a part of their strategy to create dominant positions in every market category where they are operating.
The 350 member team at Letsbuy will be allowed to work independently and will also have access to the supply chain expertise and technology of Flipkart. Purnendu Kumar, the vice president of the retail and consumer products division at a consulting firm named Technopak, has stated that this deal shows that the online retail market of India will be led by category leadership.
Kumar says that this deal signals the initial phase of e-tailing. He also believes that these consolidation deals have already become a trend in other countries. Bansal, while speaking on the possible competition for Flipkart-Letsbuy, has said that the size of the online retail market in India will not allow for the proper implementation of share gain tactics yet. He feels that the offline customer base needs to be shifted to the online mode for that to happen.
Bansal says Flipkart has been working hard for the above mentioned purpose in the last couple of years and this deal will now give them the added advantage when it came to realizing this goal. He has also stated that they will be open to any acquisition that will help improve the following areas of their business:
- portfolio
- operations
- customer base
Hitesh Dhingra, the CEO and founder of Letsbuy, has stated that they could have opted to raise a substantial amount of money as well but they chose to work with Flipkart as it is one of the market leaders and the resultant deal was going to help them provide consumers with better services, selection of products, and prices.
2012 Plans :
In 2012, Flipkart is aiming to earn INR 500 crores and has previously bought companies such as Mime360 and WeRead. Letsbuy is aiming at reaching the 150 crore rupees mark in the same period.
Experts are opining that in a few years the Indian e-commerce space will be dominated by a couple of online retailers who may or may not have offline establishments. This will be done because some online retailers will either be bought out or forced to shut down.
The companies, which are likely to do well, are Flipkart, e-bay, and Letsbuy. However, these companies will need to offer consumers with plenty of choices and also handle them properly in case there is some dissatisfaction or problem.
The e-commerce industry in India, which is inclusive of travel, e-tailing, and financial services, has been valued at approximately INR 50 thousand crores and e-tailing is supposed to contribute a maximum of 3 thousand crore rupees in this amount.
Flipkart USP
The USP of Flipkart is to provide the consumers with the best online shopping experience. The company aims to provide its customers with good value and wants to be regarded as one of the most friendly service providers in the domain.
It is also looking to become the biggest e-commerce organization of India while retaining its focus on serving the customers to the best of their abilities. It will also look to innovate in this domain and try to expand its offerings so that customers have more to choose from.
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Last Updated on 03 April 2012
