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India's Flipkart Has an Amazon Problem

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Re: India's Flipkart Has an Amazon Problem

#61

Post by endemic »

vidarh wrote: post #47
tn13 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flipkart was not the first to introduce CoD. CoD in India is an ancient concept. Indian postal service ran a system where one could order products via mail and make the payment at the postal office. If I remember correctly it was called VPP and my grandfather had purchased things like imported Cigars and German radios using this system in 60s. Even in 90s Rediff and Indiatimes offered CoD.

CoD has been offered by almost every postal service in the world. It used to be one of the main ways of paying for goods you ordered, and remained so well into the 80's or 90's in countries where credit card penetration remained low. The main limitation in most countries have been the pickup at the post office.

I made my first CoD payment (for an Amazon order) when I lived in Japan in 2004.

Re: India's Flipkart Has an Amazon Problem

#62

Post by kamaal »

denzil_correa wrote: post #57
nnain wrote: post #25

Too much negative commentary. Flipkart also did something interesting that fueled their early growth - they offered 'Cash on Delivery' model, cause many people in India don't use Credit/Debit cards for shopping! I never had a bad buying experience with them, but then my shopping has been limited. Must say though that Amazon's recommendation engine and technical prowess in general is superior. I imagine so are Amazon'…

> Flipkart also did something interesting that fueled their early growth - they offered 'Cash on Delivery' model, cause many people in India don't use Credit/Debit cards for shopping! COD model was available way before Flipkart even existed. > To me Flipkart's weakness in strategic vision started showing up in dealing with the fashion segment The main weakness with Flipkart are some decisions like making Myntra app o…

I never understood buying clothes online. Its really not the same as ordering the 1.5L Prestige pressure cooker.

Most Indians need to see the clothes, and may be even try them once for the right size. I'm extremely skeptical of buying any clothes or shoes unless I see them.

The only thing people really buy online are stuff they already know about(like the 1.5L Pressure cooker) or throw away stuff.

Re: India's Flipkart Has an Amazon Problem

#63

Post by nnain »

throwaway6497 wrote: post #59
nnain wrote: post #25

Too much negative commentary. Flipkart also did something interesting that fueled their early growth - they offered 'Cash on Delivery' model, cause many people in India don't use Credit/Debit cards for shopping! I never had a bad buying experience with them, but then my shopping has been limited. Must say though that Amazon's recommendation engine and technical prowess in general is superior. I imagine so are Amazon'…

Whoever, initiated and approved that move!!. Quick Google search showed this name - Punit Soni. Why did he leave? Fallout with the CEO and team?

How does a quick google search give you the name of the responsible person! That's some insider info :)

Re: India's Flipkart Has an Amazon Problem

#64

Post by kamaal »

anupshinde wrote: post #15

I've used both Flipkart and Amazon(India) sites. 1. For me, Flipkart's introduction was only due to the huge discounted prices. Also it was new, better and trusted experience compared to Ebay(India). And Amazon came late in the game. Mentally I associate Flipkart with huge Discounts (and Mi phones). And those discounts don't exist any more. 2. Amazon.in is just a great user experience. Flipkart.com still feels like a…

>>Mentally I associate Flipkart with huge Discounts (and Mi phones). And those discounts don't exist any more.

Sure thing! Only a recent incident when my dad wanted to buy a phone. He isn't tech savvy, but I suggest him I can order one for him and have it delivered to the home. He asks if there are any discounts online? If not he asks why not just go to the shop and spend some time get a look and feel of the product and then buy.

Also regarding Mi phones. Trust me their flash sale was a major cause of concern why most customers felt humiliated to wait for hours and then discover the phones sold out within a second.

>>Flipkart has a trust problem with many users and its just harder to fix that.

A relative ordered two phones, they sent only one in CoD. Reason claimed was they were not sure customer would buy. It sort of became a cause of concern because he was buying for his sisters and it went to some kind of family misunderstanding that he bought it only for one sister.

He cribbed and did a good deal of negative ranting about Flipkart in a family function. My guess is a good 20-30 people were scared away from buying in Flipkart again.

Re: India's Flipkart Has an Amazon Problem

#65

Post by phatfish »

ryao wrote: post #46
mandeepj wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon never changed in US. They are number 1 here

Prices have steadily crept upward, especially since Amazon started to branch out into video streaming. Prices have become so bad that I am discontinuing my prime membership when it runs out in 6 weeks. I am consistently finding things cheaper on any of eBay, jet.com and Newegg. With shop runner from my Amex card, I often get free second day on Newegg. Then jet.com gives second day for free. eBay does not, but unless…

I noticed Amazon are not the cheapest anymore. However often the free shipping option with Amazon is not matched by other retailers. Amazon looks more expensive unless you factor that in, then they are the same or cheaper.

However if you spend enough at another retailer to get free shipping then it can be a much better deal.

I assume Amazon's scale allows them to put the delivery companies under a lot of pressure, so they push the free delivery to smaller spends which means they don't have to compete so strongly on the item price.

Re: India's Flipkart Has an Amazon Problem

#66

Post by licsiousness »

mandeepj wrote: post #32
dingo_bat wrote: post #6

Flipkart has had this coming. They grew too confident, even to the extent of making significantly anti customer moves. Whereas amazon make you feel like you are the center of the universe. Another problem is that amazon's retail business is not a big earner, even after so many years. But all flipkart has is retail. They don't have the technical superiority to do something like aws. Think about it. Flipkart offices ar…

Their engineers are not only maintaining that website, they are - 1. Maintaining app 2. Recommendation service 3. Search 4. Analytics 5. Modeling 6. Handling a website used by millions of users is not an easy thing Not trying to defend flipkart, only sharing my perspective

Yes exactly. Maintaining the website of such a big company is not an easy job. Plus any change they do make needs to be over tested to make sure it works first time.

Re: India's Flipkart Has an Amazon Problem

#67

Post by nnain »

jdkanani wrote: post #38
nnain wrote: post #25

Too much negative commentary. Flipkart also did something interesting that fueled their early growth - they offered 'Cash on Delivery' model, cause many people in India don't use Credit/Debit cards for shopping! I never had a bad buying experience with them, but then my shopping has been limited. Must say though that Amazon's recommendation engine and technical prowess in general is superior. I imagine so are Amazon'…

You underestimated the power of Amazon here - it's not technical prowess or recommendation engine. The war was never about technical prowess. It's Amazon's customer service which pulling Flipkart/Snapdeal down to the ground and beating them hard.

I don't underestimate Amazon at all! Gave it a lot of credit for strategy, vendor management and logistics along with the technology.

Re: India's Flipkart Has an Amazon Problem

#68

Post by Tenhundfeld »

pjc50 wrote: post #54
seibelj wrote: post #7

Amazon has earned my trust in every serious interaction I've had with them (live in USA and have prime subscription). Package never arrived? Reimbursed. Next day shipping and it took 2 days? Reimbursed. "New" book from reseller is clearly marked up with underlines and notes? Free book, no need to ship it back. The trust I have with this company is the reason why I order from them so consistently, even if they are mor…

I wonder what the trust looks like in the other direction: if you can get free stuff by lying to customer service, what happens if that becomes popular in the customer base?

Meh, that doesn't seem a huge risk. Lying to customer service isn't a life hack. It's unethical and a crime. Depending on the specifics, it could be mail fraud, a felony.

Maybe I'm naive, but I believe most adults are not actually willing to commit fraud in writing. And besides the risk of prosecution, most people like to think of themselves as honest people. It's hard to continue that narrative if you're proactively engaging in fraud.

Re: India's Flipkart Has an Amazon Problem

#69

Post by vthallam »

parthdesai wrote: post #37
msravi wrote: post #31

I stopped using Flipkart when they went pushy with their mobile app. If you went to their website on a mobile, it just insisted that you download the app, with no other option, which I didn't want to do. I just went to amazon.in Edit: Coming to think of it, as a personal anecdote, I pretty much use the web for a lot of stuff now. News (firefox bookmarks), Social (twitter, linkedin), Shopping (amazon) - it's all the w…

Just checked Flipkart's website and it's not even responsive. Horizontal scroll appears at width of 1284 pixel. I think this in 2016 is just insane.

Not sure what are you looking at. They do have a great mobile website and i could see it.

Re: India's Flipkart Has an Amazon Problem

#70

Post by pjc50 »

Tenhundfeld wrote: post #68
pjc50 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what the trust looks like in the other direction: if you can get free stuff by lying to customer service, what happens if that becomes popular in the customer base?

Meh, that doesn't seem a huge risk. Lying to customer service isn't a life hack. It's unethical and a crime. Depending on the specifics, it could be mail fraud, a felony. Maybe I'm naive, but I believe most adults are not actually willing to commit fraud in writing. And besides the risk of prosecution, most people like to think of themselves as honest people. It's hard to continue that narrative if you're proactively…

I was wondering if this varies by country; both the expected extent to which one should game the system (e.g. prevalence of bribes) and actual ability of the authorities to prosecute people.
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