flipkart marketing strategy

FLIPKART – 360o MARKETING STRATEGYINTERNATIONAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT PROJECT 2015

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF FOREIGN TRADE, NEW DELHI

Overview

Group 8 International Marketing Management (2015-17)

Overview (1/9)

Flipkart’s Story

Digital Initiatives

Strategy

New Product Innovation


Sales Promotion and

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• Flipkart is an online shopping destination for India founded in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal.

• Flipkart offers over 20 million products across 70+ categories.• Flipkart, started by a team of 2 is currently 20000 people strong and has

26 million registered users clocking over 8 million daily visits. • Flipkart's technology has enabled them to deliver 5 million shipments per

month.

Overview (2/9)

E-Commerce as a Platform

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Major Stakeholders

• Indian ecommerce market was pegged $13.6 billion last year, and by the time 2015 ends, it will cross $16 billion mark.

• Ecommerce transactions grew by 53% last year, and 61% of all transactions.

• Most of the e-retail companies are operating in huge losses currently to gain market share mainly due to huge discounts and flash sales.

• Angel investors are pumping huge sums of money into this industry but the investments are mostly into few companies only.

• In India, Cash on delivery is the most preferred payment method, accumulating 75% of the e-retail activities

Overview of the Industry

Overview (3/9)


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Retail e-commerce sales in India from 2012 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)

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201614121086420 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Over the last two decades, rising internet and mobile phone penetration has changed the way we communicate and do business. e-Commerce at present, heavily leaning on the internet and mobile phone revolution to fundamentally alter the way businesses reach their customers

E-commerce logistics : Shift from regular logisticsThe strong emergence of e-commerce has placed an enormous pressure on the supporting logistics functions. The proposition of e-commerce to the customer in offering has provided an almost infinite variety of choices spread over enormous geographical area.

Overview (4/9)


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• Content Localisation• Expansion beyond Metros• Mobile Commerce• Logistics and Warehouse Focus• Growth in Debit Card Usage

Growth Drivers

• Building a loyal customer base• Last Mile Delivery• Managing Warehouse Location• Brands pulling out of E-Commerce• Security Issues

Key Challenges

Overview (5/9)

Customer Management Systems

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Flipkart’s CMS: A/B Testing

A standard A/B testing framework has three components -

1. The object of experiments. This can be different user experiences, different pricing or different shipping methods.

2. The method of experiments. How the A or B buckets are assigned is up to the framework. It might be based on randomization, or based on some data gathered before the experiment.

3. The data collector. Gathers the data which will be used for concluding the experiment. In a typical e-Commerce you will want to look at data such as visits, product views, click through rates and order conversions.

“At Flipkart we use our own A/B testing framework wherein we can run different versions of the website for different users. The method is generally randomization. For data gathering, we have dashboards which show logs and metrics collected by our frameworks as well as an external tool

called Omniture.”

Overview (6/9)

Outsourcing Strategy

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When a company has too many people on its payroll, it gets difficult to handle from the compliance perspective. For example, PF, insurance, gratuity, etc., takes a lot of effort from the HR perspective. Businesswise, too, such shifting out of personnel offers several advantages. Once employees are on an outsourced payroll, they don't appear in the books of the company and, in turn, the revenue-per-employee is much higher, which is an important metric for companies.

"Flipkart's decision to outsource few roles is a strategic move which will help us scale faster and also grow the partner ecosystem around us," a company spokesman had said.

The company has made several strategic hires in recent months including from Silicon Valley, to build new capabilities and establish its dominance in a sector fast overcrowding: Former Google product head Punit Soni to head the products division under its commerce platform; former McKinsey director Saikiran Krishnamurthy as the chief operating officer of its commerce division; former head of engineering at Google, Peeyush Ranjan, as senior vice president.

Outsourcing and Hiring

Overview (7/9)

Flipkart’s White Label Strategy and its Analysis

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Reasons for Failure

DigiFlip

• Flipkart has forayed into the tablet market with the launch of its own DigiFlip Pro XT712 tablet which was launched in 2012. The Digiflip Pro XT712 was an entry-level Android tablet with 7 inch screen, quad-core processor, dual SIM card slots and a price tag of Rs 9,999.

• Flipkart then launched various computer accessories under the same label.

• Hardware & Software Not Exciting Enough• Lack of compelling services and offers from

Flipkart• Mismatch of price and features

Overview (8/9)

Flipkart’s Strategy

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Flipkart’s Acquisitions

Flipkart’s Investments

Overview (9/9)

Scope of E-commerce Industry

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Next.Big.What. Will hyperlocal businesses disrupt traditional ecommerce• Everyday need goods• Delivered at specified time• speedy delivered• location/time• Convenient: Doorstep• Convenient: Choice• Delivery of bulky products• Express Delivery,• Economic Pricing• Connects to neighborhood• Express Delivery grocery stores • Additional discounts • Discounts on home • Easy to browse options• Delivery of pain point• Curated lists shopping

Sales Promotion and Outreach


Overview

Flipkart: ‘Kart'apulting into the future

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Sales Promotion and Outreach (1/8)

Brand and

service

Shipping and

delivery

Cash on Delivery

30-day return policy

Warranty and

Insurance

Circle of FocusRight from it’s inception in 2007, Flipkart has focused immensely on the concept of “customer delight”. To achieve the same, they came up with a 5-point mantra and in the initial phase, recklessly improved upon them.

Utilization of numerous festive opportunities

Heavy discounts and offer coupons

Excellent collection of books, DVDs, movies etc.

Three-pronged approach for pushing numbers

While the focus areas remained constant, the initial phase also placed heavy emphasis on pushing numbers and getting their name all across the boards in a sector which was yet to see the light of day in the Indian market.

Overview

Advertising Campaigns

Digital Initiatives

Strategy




The TVCs feature kids in adult situations (and with adult voiceovers), like a beauty parlour, a cafe, and an office, where they discuss the benefits of buying products on Flipkart.com.

Over the years, the foundation has remained the same and the adverts have been widely accepted and successful….No kidding.

Overview

“Ab sirf shopping nahi, Flipkart karo”

Digital Initiatives

Strategy




An attempt to position Flipkart as a synonym for convenience led online shopping.

The campaign not only aimed at inspiring people to shop via Flipkart, but also promoted online shopping as a whole by talking of- why do online shopping.

Overview

Experimentation with the logo over the years

Digital Initiatives

Strategy




The first logo of Flipkart was designed with curved letters and two colors with an aim to appear friendly as well as to propagate the idea of ‘flipping’ through a ‘cart’.

As the company grew bigger, an increased emphasis on brand imagery was laid upon. With the common mass now fairly acquainted wth the idea of flipkart, a single colored word was introduced alongwith a cart apparently in motion to signify speed.

The latest in the row is a minimalistic, sophisticated logo with just the alphabet “f” written on top of a shopping bag. Also, a smiley can be noticed on top. The entire idea is to give an image of playfulness, speed and friendliness.

Overview

Big Billion Day 2014: An Aspiration

Digital Initiatives

Strategy




• Before the sale even began, controversy gathered as people noticed that the prices of some of the products were being raised back to the MRP instead of the actual selling price - to better pad the size of the deal on offer.

• At approx. 2pm, next day, seller accounts of third party vendors on Flipkart have been put as pending i.e no more orders will be taken for the day and products will now show the status as 'out of stock'.

• Example: On an average, a Transcend 64GB pen drive can be purchased for Rs 2,500 w/o discounts but Flipkart offered it at 2500 after a 95% discount on Rs. 49,999

• Verdict: A BIG FAILURE

Overview

Big Billion Days 2015(1/2): Innovative Campaign for Promotion

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#AchhaKiya campaign

Learning from the failure of 2014, the company left no stone unturned to make Big Billion Days 2015 a success.

Flipkart released a series of advertisements to promote its upcoming Big Billion Days sale, adding that “good things come to those who wait”.

Meanwhile….Few of the competitors took this opportunity to troll the campaign itself by posting sarcastic and cheeky responses online as well as up on the roadside billboards.

Overview

Big Billion Days 2015(2/2): Fair Success

Digital Initiatives

Strategy




• “Abhi Nahin toh Kabhi Nahi” : The sale gained back its foothold.

• "India shops the most during this time of the year. With 75 percent of traffic coming via mobile, we expect this 'app only' sale to be the biggest shopping event of the year” : Flipkart’s Bansal stated/forecasted.

• Flipkart opened new fulfilment centres across the country to guarantee efficient delivery. They also ramped our technology and supply chain support to meet the huge customer demand.

• Saw a business turnover of over $300 million in GMV, which was 3X times last year with the participation of 40,000 sellers and millions of visitors.

• Verdict: Fair Success

Overview

Flipkart Advantage: The latest step towards increasing the outreach

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Strategy




Buy from third-party sellers with confidence

Understanding the advantage

30-Day Replacement Policy

Quality packing, faster delivery

Track your shipment

Flipkart Advantage is our e-commerce fulfilment service for Sellers, where products are sourced from Sellers and we do the rest. That includes checking for quality, stocking, packing and shipment. As a Buyer, you are assured product quality, faster delivery and hassle-free returns. All this is backed by 24x7 customer service.

Digital Initiatives


Overview

Digital Initiatives (1/9)

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Flipkart has a strong digital footprint and this is mainly due to its customer-focused approach

Courtesy – Flipkart page on LinkedIn

Overview

Social Media (1/2)


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Facebook1• Offers and

discounts, special sales promotions etc.

• Launch of new products, especially exclusive ones

• App/website improvements at the user’s end.

Blog7• Posts by various

contributing authors regarding the basic motives behind purchase of products (in-vogue, beauty tips etc.)

• Celebrity exclusives on fashion trends

Flipkart Stories5• Stories about

how Flipkart has impacted lives of individual customers (primarily testimonials of heavy buyers and loyal customers)

• Stories about unique sellers

LinkedIn4• Business

decisions, participation in conferences, new initiatives

• Career opportunities (‘Why work with Flipkart’ videos), employee benefits and testimonials

Twitter2• Informal platform

with individual customer testimonials, Dubsmash videos and contests

On the Flip side – Tech Blog6• Information about the

features and working of Flipkart’s tech features like ‘Ping’

• Upcoming search adaptability features etc.

360O Social Media

Strategy

YouTube3• Product reviews,

advertisements of offer days

• Short video series giving gifting ideas for every occasion

Overview

Social Media (2/2)


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5 Social Media Lessons to learn from Flipkart

Social ListeningOn Flipkart, whenever they receive complaints on their online properties, they are prompt on replying. This re-instates the belief that once the product is sold it isn’t forgotten.

Connect via social mediaOn Flipkart’s website, there are options to connect on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ thus making people aware of their presence, increasing awareness, exposure, interaction.

HumorAds stand out with 12 year olds enacting like grownups and addressing the real concerns around ecommerce, it seems Flipkart is creating awareness about the industry as well.

Re-marketingExample: You viewed a certain product/category on Flipkart and left the website. The same product or category will be seen on the right sidebar/news feed of Facebook.

Know your platformFlipkart is fully aware of how each social media platform works and succeeds. As already seen, they have very different approaches to managing content on each of them.

Overview

Web (1/2)


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The Flipkart Affiliate Program

Affiliate Tools Reports Testimonials

Simple banners & widgets, APIs for

listing Flipkart deals / products on your

own site / app

Extensive data about links, activity and overall website performance

Collection of affiliate testimonials for

publicity of Flipkart

• Affiliates are typically sites that sell coupons or lure consumers with cash-back offers. • They receive commission on every transaction they bring to e-commerce companies in the

form of commissions. • Affiliates are estimated to account for about 8 per cent of e-commerce sales in India.• Approximately 8-10% of the online marketing budget of e-tailers is spent on affiliate

engagement.

Overview

Web (2/2)


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Search Engine Optimization

Flipkart shows up in the top 5 results of Google search for generic search strings like “buy online”, “purchase online”, “online shopping”, “e-commerce” and many more, clearly indicating a strong SEO strategy to drive traffic to its website

Long tail keywords effectively to cater to more focused search strings.

Good quality content on affiliate sites helps to grow organic links

SEO strategy focused on ROI from purchase activity rather than traffic

A strong presence on Google+ helps get better search result visibility

Statistics on Flipkart’s spread of website marketing strategies

Traffic from search26.95%

Traffic from referrals19.85%

Traffic from social2.27%

Direct traffic 46.5%

Closest competitorAmazon

Top referring siteMySmartPrice

Global Rank196

Country Rank7

Category Rank9

Overview

Online advertising


Strategy



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Flipkart uses a multi-channel approach to online advertising with a highly aggressive stance when it comes to increasing online visibility.

Added advantage of

conducive search results

on GoogleAdvertising

through pop-ups

maximizes online

presence

Display ads of recently viewed

products that were not bought

Mobile comparison

websites, digi-blogs

drive trafficVideo ads on social media

websites regarding

offers/discounts

AdWords

Cookies

Re-marketing

Affiliates

Social Media

Most innovative ad: “Training father for Big Billion Day” in association with TVFLink: http://madovermarketing.com/2015/10/10/flipkart-teams-up-with-tvf-to-deliver-the-

most-innovative-hilarious-sale-ad/

Overview

Flipkart on mobiles (1/2)


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With growing number of smartphone users, Flipkart is moving to an app-focused strategy. Multiple initiatives and campaigns are being carried out to support this and drive traffic to apps.

Flipkart on Google Play Store®

Flipkart on App Store®

• Wide app portfolio• Free• Good ratings and sponsored reviews• Regular updates• SEO on Play Store for online shopping• Good categorization of items on sale• Flipkart Nearby is growing in popularity

App Highlights

Overview

Flipkart on mobiles (2/2)


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App-only discounts

QR Code Scanning Flipkart drives traffic from its site to its app

This is in line with Flipkart’s push

towards smartphones, a

first in the e-commerce

business in India

Flipkart Lite (November 2015)

What?• Mobile site re-launched after discontinuation in March, 2015• The new Flipkart Lite site will make use of the new notifications feature in Chrome• Potential users can also add the Flipkart Lite page to the homescreen on Chrome in

order to access it directly without typing in the name each timeWhy?• Re-think of the app-only strategy as, with increasing width of apps on app stores,

Flipkart also competes with other apps (from IM to self-drive cars) for space on smartphones

• Online payment on apps can get messy if the internet fails at the time of the ‘Two-factor authentication’ process as per RBI’s guidelines (while entering OTP)

70-75% of sales is app-driven and hence its digital initiatives in this space are crucial

Overview

Digital Initiatives – RoundUp


Strategy



Sales Promotion and

OutreachSocial Media

Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Tech

Blog, Blog, Flipkart Stories

WebSearch Engine

Optimization, Flipkart Affiliate Program

Online AdvertisingAdWords, pop-ups, re-marketing, affiliates, innovative video ads

Flipkart on mobilesApp-only discounts, QR

code scanning, app-updates, Flipkart Lite

Strategy


Overview

Digital Initiatives

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Sales Promotion and

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Study of various E- Commerce Ventures around the world - Alibaba

Strategy of genuineity over customer centricity• Facilitate communication and safety in the transactions• Tie up with manufacturers to identify counterfeiting products• Alipay to develop trust between merchants and consumers, eBay

didn't port Paypal to China a major reason for their failure their.

Order of operations , smart and dynamic STP– • Alibaba wisely started their internet business in China by not going

after the consumer market. Most people didn't have computers or internet in the late 90s/early 2000s.

• Also they realised that the fragmented territory and economic disparity needed some time to level the same

Short-term pain for eventual long-term gain:• The free site convinced Chinese merchants to use it, the design

convinced merchants and consumers, and eventually Taobao hit a tipping point in what is essentially a winner-take-all-business. eBay refused to cut pricing to zero claiming that a business requires a profit. It turned out a guerrilla move to offset eBay's bigger advertising budget.

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Study of various E- Commerce Ventures around the world - Alibaba

Developed the culture of Window Shopping:display of Taobao excites the public, Browsing the home page of Taobao is more like window shopping.

Jack Ma had strong Chinese government support All internet companies(eBay, Google, Facebook etc.) tried to enter in china and none succeeded

Strong Employee base and HR policies:Alibaba employees posted thousands of messages on internet bulletin boards directing users to Taobao.

IPO at a time it can compete with the big players:The IPO also gives Alibaba new cash that it can use to expand into areas , including possibly the U.S

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Study of various E- Commerce Ventures around the world - Rakuten

Strategy of personalised servicePrinciple of ‘Omotenashi’- high quality and personalised service. He says that hospitality has always been a part of Japan’s heritage and built his company to reflect the same.

Rakuten focuses on being diverse and offers its customers a unique shopping experience, in contrast to Amazon, they can get anything on Rakuten, from used $70,000 four ton-trucks, Gucci handbags, digital content (Amazon Japan doesn’t offer downloads), down to apples and oranges directly offered by regional farmers.

Instead of emphasizing efficiency and convenience, Rakuten tries to create a personalized, bazaar like shopping experience. Rakuten has many PhDs who work with big data and analytics, and have a state-of-the-art research lab. But believe that a shopkeeper’s recommendation is fundamental.

the company is “aggressively” working to integrate Viber into Rakuten. messaging and calling app Viber. Very similar to Ping in Flipkart.

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Study of various E- Commerce Ventures around the world - Rakuten

Seller SupportThe site offers its merchants a number of services to make their lives easier (real-world seminars, a monthly merchant-only magazine, phone support etc.). In return, Rakuten pockets fixed “virtual real estate” fees from the 28,000+ merchants currently registered on the site, in addition to commission payments (2.6% of each retailer’s sales revenue).

Going InternationalRakuten has been talking about going international for years now, and they’re already testing waters in a handful of countries. About a fourth of all items available for Japanese customers can be ordered from selected countries through a service called Rakuten International Shipping Services.

http://event.rakuten.co.jp/borderless/index_en.html

http://event.rakuten.co.jp/borderless/index_en.html

Overview

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Study of various E- Commerce Ventures around the world - Amazon

Put the customer firstfeatures like shopping carts, one-click buying so users did not have to type in all their credit card information each time, email confirmations, and post-shipping follow up. Amazon invested billions of dollars in warehouses and systems to boost the quality and efficiency of its order fulfilment process.passed most of the cost savings on to consumers – taking a very slim margin.

Latest in Technologysometimes other people can do a better job than you at inventing the ground-breaking technologies. Amazon acquired Kiva for $775 million and uses it to help make AmazonFresh a success.when you put your mind to solving the problem facing your customer, you should do a series of frugal experiments. AmazonFresh in 2007 in the Medina and Mercer Island neighbourhoods of SeattleEfficient use of big data

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Current E- Commerce Industry in India - Features

Cash on delivery (COD):COD permitted buyers to purchase without disclosing their credit/debit card detailsCOD was also instrumental in reaching out to customers in non-metropolitan areas (tier-II and tier III cities) where most of the customers did not have credit/debit cards

Innovative and customized services for attracting customers:Free home delivery, hassle free return policies within 7–30 days, referral discount, wish list, Try and Buy, tracking the consignment

Investment in distribution channel:Improving the average turnaround time for delivering products from 4-5 days to 1–2 days, Guaranteed one day delivery, POS devices with every field executive

Absence of human touch:Replacement of human to human interaction with human to machine interaction. The Rakuten philosophy missing.

Overview

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Current E- Commerce Industry in India - Features

Delay in remittance of cash by logistics provider:from an e-retailer’s perspective, this mechanism is not a great payment mechanism for the retailers, add to it the possibility of theft , ponzi scams run by the delivery boys

Time lag between order placed and order delivered:the customers have to pre-plan her purchase process, in order to accommodate the delivery process. In certain categories, for example, grocery, customers prefer the delivery within couple of hours of placing the order.

Short attention span of customers during online shopping: One of the major difference between online and offline mode of shopping is that customers often show short attention span and lack ofpatience in online shopping. Customers easily navigate to the next site if they don’t find the product they were looking for. This problem gets further compounded by slow internet speed in many cities in India.

Expectation of lower prices in online shopping

Overview

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Current E- Commerce Industry in India –Study of Cartlene.com strategy

Acquisition and retention of customer:For example, in India, traditionally customers have trusted their family jeweller for purchasing jewellery made of gold and diamonds as these are high ticket transactions. To bridge the gap of trust and creditability, one of the largest online jewellers, caratlane.com has opened a solitaire ‘experience’ lounge. It is a ‘hybrid’ experience for the customer where she can come to a physical store and still buy it online. In another initiative, caratlane.com asks the customers to select any 5 products from try@home catalogue which they can try at their home. This gives the company an opportunity to build trust, increase volume and also helps the company to up-sell and cross-sell its products.

However, in order to build trust, online retailers often end up spending significant amount per customer. It was reported that majority of Indian online retailing websites spend between Rs.800-1,500 to acquire a customer.

This becomes even more challenging and expensive as repeat purchase tends to be less often the norm. Also, with growth of online retailing, there are multiple players, often with undifferentiated offerings, who are competing for the same set of customers. The resultant stickiness and inability to retain customer loyalty

Overview

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Flipkart Vision & Mission

The mission of Flipkart is to “provide their customers a memorable online shopping experience”.By offering the widest range of products at disruptive prices, backed by unparalleled services to customers

The Vision of Flipkart is to become “Amazon of India”.This follows the winner takes all that happened in US with Amazon

The brand space that they have chosen for themselves, which gets manifested in the new brand logo and film, that is the space where they want to fuel and fulfil the wishes of our customers. Life feels great when wishes come true and that is the core thought that has driven our current brand choice.

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Flipkart’s New Brand Identity

• Conceptualized and designed by Flipkart’s design team and Umbrella Design, the new brand identity represents Flipkart’s vision of e-commerce in India by reinstating its focus on the mobile platform

• The 3D design and contrasting colour palettes in the new logo help break the clutter and stand out on the mobile platform.

• The core brief was to create a product that brings alive the new brand space of fuelling and fulfilling wishes; a creative that talks to consumers across age, gender, geographies, pop-strata and social class. Our story is not just about a series of products; it doesn’t talk about the gardening tool, it talks about why does a particular person wish for a particular gardening tool?

• "Flipkart wants to be perceived as a familiar and friendly brand. This rebranding exercise is a part of the brand's vision in achieving that. The company has chosen to retain its signature yellow colour, as it represents qualities that Flipkart represents, like imaginative, lively, friendly and inclusive. The font used in the logo is Riona, which is contemporary but appealing to everybody. The shopping bag represents the freedom to choose products that a consumer likes," explains Kalpita Bose, CEO, Umbrella Design.

• Shekhar Badve, founder-director (marketing and strategy believes that the 'F' logo with those trail lines is the oldest way to say "we are fast." "But, it does convey the change that they are looking at making - providing a fast connecting experience, a fun way to buy and increasing the number of mobile customers. So, it's a good move," he says.

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Flipkart’s Mobile Only Strategy Analysis

The growth of Mobile: With mobile apps being developed by most e-commerce websites, smartphones are increasingly replacing PCs for online shopping. In 2013, only 10% of the mobile users used smartphones, and only 5% of the e-commerce transactions were made through a mobile device. This figure has more than doubled, and more than 13% of all e-commerce transactions today happen via mobile3. According to some industry players, over 50% of the orders are being placed through mobile apps, which is not only leading to substantial customer acquisition but also building customer loyalty for various brands. However, most mobile transactions so far are for entertainment, such as booking movie tickets and music downloads. This trend will change soon with more and more merchandise being ordered online.

Enhanced Shopping experience: The experience of shopping is being enhanced because of strong advertisement programs which have made the consumer believe that shopping for occasions such as weddings is also a very convenient and enriching for the customer. New concepts such sales on weekends, holidays and festivals are attracting a lot of new customers and building customer loyalty among existing customers. Television and social media, particularly Facebook, are playing a proactive role in promoting eTailing through aggressive advertisements.

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Flipkart’s Mobile Only Strategy Analysis

India is expected to record the highest growth in the Asia Pacific region during 2012–16.:In the coming decade, we expect the sector to be dominated by mobile platforms, as the growth and penetration of mobiles in rural India, coupled by data services becoming cheaper would mean a greater population exposed to e- commerce and hence transacting with the help of Mobile money, and having access to virtual trial rooms would take front. As foreign and domestic e-retail majors such as Amazon and Flipkart expand their businesses aggressively, hiring activities are expected to grow by over 30 per cent in the sector and may help create up to 50,000 jobs in the next 2-3 years. Push Notification in mobiles have evaluated 6 times greater response than promotion e- mails that enter the spam folder

POS devices as mobile where payments can be made on the spot as soon as the product is delivered for people who still have trust issues with their transactions

More business coming from smaller towns: Ecommerce is increasingly attracting buyers from tier-2 and tier-3 cities inspite of the limited access to brands but the sentiment of the consumer is aspirational.

Overview

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Opinions and Suggestions

Deal Aggregators:Groupon, who has been known for its deep discounted deals on everything from restaurant meals to shoes and watches, received an overwhelming response when it offered onions at Rs. 9 in India which was about 80-90 percent less than the market price. the customer could buy 1 kg of onion from Groupon website on ‘first-come-first-serve’ basis with sales limited to 3,000 kg per day

Flash Sales:Vente-Privee, a European e-retailer, started the trend of flash sales in online medium and it was later adopted in U.S.A by Gilt Group. Gilt, the most prominent flash sale site in US, was used to introduce Volkswagen’s all-new 2011 Jettas. Volkswagen was the first automotive brand to be sold through any flash sale site in the US. Volkswagen sold three of the $15,995 cars for $5,995 on Gilt. Fifty-five thousand people who missed out added their names to the wait list and Volkswagen sent them $500 coupons to buy or lease a Jetta. Volkswagen was able to sell 69 full-price cars as a result of the Gilt flash sale and created an e-mail list ofEBay.in offered Nokia Lumia 620 for only Rs 13,379 in its ‘One Day Flash Sale’ offer in March 2013. In another example, spicejet.com offered ‘The Big Sale’ for three days in which ‘10 lakh seats’ were made available for an all-inclusive fare of just Rs 2013 through its website. The offer was valid for bookings of domestic flights made during January 11 to January 13, 2013 while the customers could undertake their travel from 1st February to 30th April,2013. The company officials claimed that it sold 7,05,000 tickets in just three days (of the promotional fare) and the carrier managed revenue of Rs 165 crore (1 crore = 10,000,000).

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Opinions and Suggestions

Reviving 3- hour delivery:For a short last year Flipkart has 3- hour delivery in select towns, this can provide a huge marketing push to show its supremacy over other players in the market

Following Rakuten’s Strategy of personalising transactions:Rakuten urges its sellers to have a write up about the sellers success story, how the product is produced and how their product differentiates from that of its competitors. Hence creating a personal attachment with the customers

Extend the services of Flipkart First for loyal customers:Flipkart First( a paid membership scheme which extends loyalty benefits) is a strategy to win the loyalty of customers in the extremely competitive e- commerce space but the strategy must be re- directed to make Flipkart First as a reward to frequent and loyal customers than asking them to pay for it.

Customer Review: According to Reevoo stats, 50 or more reviews per product can mean a 4.6% increase in conversion rates. 63% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a site which has user reviews. (iPerceptions, 2011).Site visitors who interact with both reviews and customer questions and answers are 105% more likely to purchase while visiting, and spend 11% more than visitors who don’t interact with UGC. (Bazaarvoice, Conversation Index, Q2 2011).Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted (nearly 12 times more) than descriptions that come from manufacturers, according to a survey of US internet users by online video review site EXPO. (e-Marketer, February 2010).

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Growth of Flipkart over the years and its inception

New Product Innovations

(1/14)

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart Evolution


(2/14)

Along with the items sold, flipkart has changed its

looks and logos over the years. Here is a lookback

at the various logos Flipkart has used and how

it has evolved itself to keep in touch with the

latest customer expectations and at the

same time keeping a coherent chain of thought

Throwback

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Growth of Flipkart over the years and its inception


(3/14)

Online book store

Electronics and media

Healthcare

Fashion industry

Why Start with Books initially ??

To emerge as a pioneer in

book retailing rather than venturing

comparison shopping

engine

Lower transaction size means

easy to establish

infrastructure

Easier Logistics and

more visibility again allows

easy acquiring Shipping and handling of

books is easyBooks are still

something of a intellectual and leisure activity which helps in

elite brand building

Pioneer

Transaction

Better Shelf Size

Logistics

Brand Building

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart - Cash On Delivery


(4/14)

WHY ??• India is primarily a cash driven economy. • Existing payments infrastructure in India is abysmal. • Security around existing payments infrastructure are non-existent• And most importantly - because customers wanted itHOW ??• Sell good products its amongst the largest reasons for returns in the rest of the Indian

e-commerce space (which incorrectly gets blamed on COD• Own delivery/collections network• Very strong reconciliation operations• Fast deliveries“The bottom-line is there is customer behavior that you can influence, and behavior that you cannot. We are not here to teach India to use plastic. We are here to help them shop in the easiest possible fashion” –Sachin Bansal

How Flipkart started and sustained the Cash-On-Delivery system !!

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart – Delivery Scheme Innovations


(5/14)

On Flipkart, both the same-day and in-a-day delivery options come at an extra cost of Rs 140 and Rs 90 per item purchased.

In-a-day and same day guarantee scheme Competitor Analysis

Amazon has the same options as well, but the price points and delivery conditions vary. Amazon’s costs are reflected on a per order basis, as compared to Flipkart’s per item cost – which makes Flipkart’s guaranteed delivery proposition much more expensive.

Amazon offers same-day delivery for Rs. 149, and guaranteed one-day delivery for Rs. 99 per order. In addition to this, Amazon also has a two day delivery option for Rs 79 per order. It also automatically refunds shipping charges on products that are not delivered within the specified time frames.The move by Flipkart isn’t a first. Other players in the space like SnapDeal and Tradus had no guarantees

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart – Payment Wallet


(6/14)

Wallet

The Wallet is a prepaid instrument that enables you to shop on Flipkart multiple times by making a one-time payment of a certain value. When you select the Wallet as the mode of payment for your order, the corresponding amount will be deducted from your Wallet balance. Wallet compartments: The Flipkart Wallet has two compartments - Flyte and WS Retail. Wallet Top-ups which can be used only for digital purchases go in the Flyte compartment, while store credit issued by seller WS Retail resides in the WS Retail compartment. Promotional credit could be issued to either compartments

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart – First Customer Scheme


(7/14)

Flipkart First

Flipkart First - an annual subscription service for frequent shoppers

According to the e-commerce giant, the Flipkart First annual subscription

service will offer customers unlimited access to In-a-Day Guarantee delivery;

free standard delivery with no minimum purchase price; Same-day Guarantee delivery at a discounted price, and a

bonus 60-day replacement guarantee, instead of the usual 30-day period

Competitor Analysis

Notably, the Flipkart First service is similar to the Amazon Prime premium subscription service in the US. Amazon Prime service offers customers in the US a free two-day shipping on orders with no

minimum order size. It even gives access to unlimited instant streaming of movies and TV shows

with Prime Instant and also offers free books

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart - PING


(8/14)

PING is a chat service inside flipkart’s mobile app that allows you to show pictures of the products you are buying on flipkart to your

friends. This allows you to get second opinions and bond better with your friends. This is a new product innovation by Flipkart.

PING

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart – A typical receipt generation


(9/14)

Order Number

Logistics

Information Contained

Use Case

Consider the order number OD2016381693…..602As shown in the picture

This contains all the information like the Product Code, Date Of Purchase, Reference Number, Delivery Area Code and so on….

FLIPKART LOGISTICS AGENCY

Customer enters the order number and gets the real time update of the shipment status

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart – A Procurement and Sourcing Cycle for Flipkart


(10/14)

Inventory Levels +Rare Ordered Product

Direct Procurement From Companies

Stocked in the warehouse and Delivery Centers

Credit period=14-30 daysCredit Limits= varies with products

Distributors of these companies delivers the product in respective flipkart’s Ware house (as per requirement)

1.Weekly2.Monthly3.One-time4.Urgent

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart – Pricing for Flipkart


(11/14)

Pricing & Margins8-35%

On sale price of product

Parameter= Brand, Category margin, Premium margin, Volume, Cost of Delivery,

Operating cost marginHigh Margin Category

Toys, Watches, Beauty& Healthcare, luggage

Mid Margin Category

Books, TV, Home & Kitchen, Gaming, Belts,Bags

Low Margin Category

Mobiles & Cameras,Computer accessories

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart – A Logistics Cycle for Flipkart


(12/14)

Delivery Centers

Ware house Stocking Levels

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

SYSTEM Product’s Inventory

Frequency Of Order Of The Product

Location of the product

Is Identified

Logistic body is assignedCustomer product delivery location (Delivery cost-Free If ordered > 300 Rs. Else Rs. 30 Extra)

Parameter = city, locality, Type Of product,Cost definition, inter-city agreement etc.

Automated Software Sends Information about the product Delivery to these logistics body

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart – A Logistic Problem Solved and Approach !!


(13/14)

Customer order

Checked in delivery centre inventory

YES

Delivery Time 1-2 Days

SUCCESS!!!Sent to logistics body

NO Checked in the nearest warehouse inventory

Automatic inventory check via Inventory management system

Ordered to the company

YES

Delivery time 2-5 Days

YES

Delivery time 6-15 Days

NO

Overview


Strategy


Sales Promotion and

Outreach

Flipkart – A Small Summary


(14/14)

DISTRIBUTOR LOGISTICS PRICING BPOFlipkart distribution is getting designed in such way that , flipkart can become official distributor of several company’s product future in India. E.g. – Motorola/Google

Flipkart Logistics is getting designed in such way that, other e-commerce website can also outsource delivery to Flip-kart.

Flipkart Pricing getting designed in such way that, other e-commerce website can outsource delivery of several products through flipKart. (Motorola, Google, Casio)

Flipkart BPOgetting designed in such way that, other e-commerce website can outsource delivery of several products through flipchart

• Open loop for Value Added Service• Adding extra source of income

FLIPKART

Thank You