FLIPKART

FLIPKART IS AN E-COMMERCE COMPANY FOUNDED IN 2007, BY SACHIN AND BINNY

BANSAL. IT OPERATES EXCLUSIVELY IN INDIA, WHERE IT IS HEADQUARTERED IN
BANGALORE, KARNATAKA. IT IS REGISTERED IN SINGAPORE, AND OWNED BY A
SINGAPORE-BASED HOLDING COMPANY. ACCORDING TO ALEXA INTERNET, FLIPKART'S
WEBSITE IS ONE OF THE 10 MOST VISITED WEBSITES IN INDIA. FLIPKART HAS
LAUNCHED ITS OWN PRODUCT RANGE UNDER THE NAME "DIGIFLIP", OFFERING
CAMERA BAGS, PEN-DRIVES, HEADPHONES, COMPUTER ACCESSORIES, ETC. LEGALLY,
FLIPKART IS NOT AN INDIAN COMPANY SINCE IT IS REGISTERED IN SINGAPORE AND
MAJORITY OF ITS SHAREHOLDERS ARE FOREIGNERS. BECAUSE FOREIGN COMPANIES
ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO MULTI-BRAND E-RETAILING IN INDIA, FLIPKART SELLS
GOODS IN INDIA THROUGH A COMPANY CALLED WS RETAIL. OTHER THIRD-PARTY
SELLERS OR COMPANIES CAN ALSO SELL GOODS THROUGH THE FLIPKART PLATFORM.
VISION & MISSION
VISION - TO BECOME AMAZON OF INDIA
MISSION - PROVIDING A DELIGHTFUL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
FLIPKART AIMS TO BECOME THE LARGEST RETAILER OF INDIA. FLIPKART WANTS TO BE
PRESENT ACROSS ALL CATEGORIES, EXCEPT IN GROCERIES AND AUTOMOBILES, THE
CEO SAID. OUR TARGET IS NOT JUST THOSE WHO SHOP ONLINE. WE WANT TO
HIGHLIGHT THE CONVENIENCE OF E- COMMERCE TO TRADITIONAL OFFLINE SHOPPERS
AND, THUS, HELP GROW THE MARKET.
STRTEGIES
Flipkart's business model is much deeper and much expansive

Rationalized supply chain - Inbound logistics

Strategic warehousing and distribution capability - Operations

Well aligned fulfillment process - Outbound logistics

All the three processes are extremely well integrated - first by a sound strategy, around which the
organizational structure is built. So they have a strategy, and a complementing structure to support their
strategy. The third critical success factor for Flipkart is the technology as an enabler. A strong information
systems is at the core of the organization, which drives visibility and end-to-end integration across their
supply chain processes (inbound - operations - outbound) resulting in a well lubricated efficient machine.

Flipkart offers multiple payment methods like credit card, debit card, net banking, e-gift voucher and
Cash on Delivery.
.

PRODUCT AND BRAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

New product introduction
In 2007, Flipkart started with selling books. The first
book sold at flipkart.com was John Woods'
Leaving Microsoft to Change the World Today. In
2010, they added to their catalogue, media (including
music, movies and games) and mobile phones and
accessories
In 2011, product launches included cameras,
computers, pens & office supplies, computer
accessories, home and kitchen appliances, personal
care, health care, gaming consoles, audio players and
televisions. Flipkart is currently the only authorized
online reseller of iPods in India.
In October and November 2011, Flipkart acquired the
websites Mime360.com and Chakpak.com Later, in
February 2012, the company revealed its new Flyte
Digital Music Store. Flyte, a legal music download
service in the vein of iTunes and Amazon.com, will
offer DRM-free MP3 downloads. Flyte offers browse
by language options where users can download
international as well as regional songs. Flipkart has
listed the music based on its genre on the new music
store and has given a lot of variety. Users can shop
for tracks from various albums starting at 6 on the
store. A purchased song can only be downloaded
maximum 4 times on an internet enabled device.
Flyte garners 600K downloads in 5 months

In 2012, product launches includes health & beauty

products, Life style products which includes watches,
belts, bags & luggage.
As far as future is concerned, Flipkart will be looking
at bigger investments in our supply chain and
technology. In terms of sales they were earlier
looking at a figure of $1bn by 2015. But this can be
achieved in the next one to two years. Flipkart will
also be looking at entering new categories.
Additionally, Flipkart Self-Delivery, which currently
operates in 27 cities, will be further scaled up.
In a landmark move, NH7.in, a platform to discover
independent music and leading-edge culture created
by Only Much Louder (OML), has partnered with
Flipkart.com to create an exclusive section dedicated
to independent music on the Flipkart digital music
store, Flyte. The store will enable independent artists
across the country to sell their music digitally to their
fans.
The NH7.in store on Flipkart will be a game changer.
Up until now, independent artists had limited avenues
to retail their music to the ever-growing fan base for
indie music. The NH7.in community represents the
largest group of indie music lovers in the nation.
Now, along with promoting independent music,
NH7.in creates an avenue for artists to sell music
directly to their fans, which is the crucial next step
for independent arts to grow. In addition to this, four
million monthly users of Flipkart will have access to
a wide selection of independent music from India and
around the world at their fingertips.

In July 2012 Flipkart announced the launch of its inhouse brand Digiflip. Digiflip is a brand of digital
accessories with products like laptop bags, laptop
sleeves and camera bags among others.

ACQUISITIONS

WeRead, a social book discovery tool.

The stated goal was to give Flipkart a social
recommendation platform for buyers to make
informed decisions based on recommendations from
people within their social network.

Mime360, a digital content platform company.

Chakpak.com
Chapak.com is a Bollywood news site that offers
updates, news, photos and videos. Flipkart acquired
the rights to Chakpaks digital catalogue which
includes 40,000 filmographies, 10,000 movies and
close to 50,000 ratings. Flipkart has categorically said
that it will not be involved with the original site and
will not use the brand name.
Letsbuy.com
Letsbuy.com is India's second largest e-retailer in
electronics. Flipkart has bought the company for an
estimated US$ 25 million.Letsbuy.com had been
closed down and all the traffic of Letsbuy is diverted
to Flipkart.

Product Strategy
Flipkart is set out to create something for the Indian
market a service that was specifically built keeping
the Indian consumer in mind. For them, the biggest
inspiration continues to be the constant learning
process that has been a part of their journey. The
other has been the ability to realize our dream of
doing something for the Indian consumer.
As far as entrepreneurship is concerned, Flipkart
believes that the core focus for every start-up,
regardless of the industry, should be the same and
that is customer focus. By putting the needs of their

customer first and listening to what they have to say,

is the only route to building a large, loyal customer
base the blueprint to any business success story.
Consistent customer service is the hallmark of
Flipkart. Discounts cannot replace the customer's
satisfaction of being serviced promptly and
efficiently. Similarly, the trust-building exercise is
accorded a lot of importance. Flipkart connects with
customers in real-time, through Facebook and
Twitter. Honesty is the best policy for this ecommerce trailblazer.
Flipkart is rapidly expanding its network of
warehouses, distribution centers, procurement
operations and 24/7 customer support teams. The
company has its own delivery network in 37 cities
and is set to expand this in the current financial year.
With a team of around 4,800 members, the company
operates from offices and warehouses in seven Indian
cities.

Operational strategy
Flipkart began operations on the consignment model
goods were procured from suppliers on demand,
based on the orders received through the website.
However, eventually, the books-to-electronics e-shop
adopted the warehouse model. The company has its
own warehouses, and maintains its own inventory.
Sales projection determines the inventory, and the
available inventory accounts for the sales made; it's a
self-feeding cycle of sorts. Nearly 60 to 70 per cent
of deliveries take place through their own network as
this model provides for better control over the entire
logistics management piece.
On the operational front, issues faced by the company
pertain to delay in deliveries, or faulty products. As a
customer-centric, none of these issues can remain
unresolved for long. They faced significant
challenges in reverse logistics. It's a big task to track
unsuccessful orders, which are quite costly to
manage. Hence, Flipkart stresses on customer service
it aligns with the firm's philosophy of making
better our service promise'. Their bigger objective is
to redefine the way India shops.

Flipkart will continue to expand our categories in

order to meet the growing consumer interest in the ecommerce market. They have recently added
computer peripherals, kitchen appliances, televisions
and home theatre systems and selected stationery
items to their product range. They will continue to
add more products / selection to their existing
categories as well.

Branding
Flipkart went for a major brand makeover, making it
look more up market. There have been large
newspaper ads, TVCs and a lot of web ads. But
unlike other ecommerce companies the inorganic
marketing kicked in only when the product was
strong. Flipkart already had a proven model
execution with books and extending to other verticals
did not need infrastructural changes. Flipkarts
real achievement has been in solving the pain points
in Indian ecommerce that most well funded players
are still complaining about.

No Kidding, No Worries
No Kidding, No Worries, the recent advertising and
branding campaign of Flipkart is a unique example of
Trap Them Young. An in-depth analysis of recent
advertisement campaign of Flipkart strongly conveys
Indian youths sentiments and their desire. The story
board of adverts, features kids in adult situations, like
a beauty parlor, a cafe, and an office. The Hinglish
language & the happening places is the heart of No
Kidding, No Worries advertisement series. The
creative director succeeds to keep KOOLNESS of
Brand Flipkart.

Flipkart attacks the online fears

Flipkart carefully chooses their way forward. For

now, Flipkart seems to be playing their cards right.
Flipkart.com has aired three TVCs. Each of the ads
attacks a distinct fear in the consumers mind towards
online shopping, and how Flipkart solves that
problem.
Fear of wrong product 30 day replacement
guarantee
Fear of giving credit card details online Cash on
Delivery feature
Fear of not getting the original product Original
products with original warrantee

Business level strategies

flipkart has been mostly marketed by word of mouth
advertising. customer satisfaction has been their best
marketing medium. flipkart very wisely used seo
(search engine optimization) and google ad-words as
the marketing tools to have a far reach in the
onlineworld. flipkart.com official face book page has
close to 9 lac likes. flipkart launched a series of 3 ads
with the tag line - "no kidding no worries kids were
used to create the adverts to send out the message - if
a kidcan do it, you can also do it. all in all to create a
great customer experience.

Flipkarts strategy in solving problems in E-commerce

Discoverability
a. Yahoo News:
Until last year Flipkart had a feed of Yahoo News on
its product pages. From what SEO means, this is to
increase the keyword density and introduce original
content on the page, as the product description across
all books sites is same.

b.We Do Not Sell Used Books:

We DO NOT sell old books or used books. All the
books listed at Flipkart.com are new books.
The books listed at Flipkart.com are NOT available
for free download in ebook or PDF format.

Payments:
No credit card/net banking, fear to transact online,
repeat transaction failures, no access to web these
are the common problems with online payments.
What Flipkart is doing to overcome these?
Flipkart had at least 4 different Payment Gateways
integrated. They introduced Cash-on-Delivery. Then
they are also doing order on phone. Payment via
DD/Cheque is also accepted.
2 basic things that they are currently doing that take
little technical effort but quite some product
management will:
a. Auto redirection to banking site: Unlike most other
ecommerce sites, Flipkart never lands you on
CCavenue page, you are auto redirected to the banks
page where the info is required to be filled. Flipkart
by-passes 1 unnecessary page by passing the required
parameters directly to CCavenue and not through a
user interface.
b. Banks Status: Flipkart maintains its own real time
status if the banks net banking is working or not. So
there are no surprises after you have chosen the bank
and then go to the net banking page.

Inventory:
In the world of eCommerce, the players keep a
standard list of products and then go out procuring it
only when there is an order placed. There is no
inventory on their end and there is no live status of

inventory from their supplier. After placing an order,

they would keep looking for the product at multiple
places. After a week you might get a call saying that
either the product is not available and we will do a
favor by refunding your money or if the product is
there, it is not the color/size that you asked for.
Flipkart was no different in 2009, many customers
used to get similar calls after days of ordering. But
for the last 1 year at least Flipkart maintains its own
inventory (or at least it seems so). They are selling
what they have. From pure hearsay, Flipkart is taking
up a big warehouse in Bangalore and is in talks for
one in NCR as well. One of the few companies that is
using the funding to build a business and not spend it
like a FMCG company on ads
Delivery:
Flipkart is exploiting the delivery problem as a
cashable need gap and building its own delivery
backend. Flipkart is seen delivering through their
own delivery boys in Bangalore and at times within
12hrs from order.
Flipkart has started putting fliers in newspapers in
Bangalore with a product listing, call-to-order phone
number and a promise of delivering tomorrow. This
means more discoverability, no payment problem and
no delivery delay.

Platform-wise Strategy
Facebook

A simple Facebook page with friendly communication tonality. The content primarily revolves around
latest festivals/birthdays, Q&A updates and self-promotional posts.

Twitter

YouTube

Google Plus