Flipkart winning the e-commerce war against Amazon in India

It’s a David Vs Goliath clash in the Indian e-commerce market with Flipkart and Amazon using every method to win the race for mindshare and market share. The battle lines are drawn and no one seems to be backing up. Not too long ago, e-commerce was considered irrelevant in the country since the Indian consumer favored the tangible retail market over virtual buying. The prospect of providing one’s credit card and debit card credentials to merchant sites was rarely regarded to be a wise decision. Come today, and the tables have turned. With a growing section of people opting for online shopping, courier agencies have to tackle a huge number of consignments and have started employing more delivery staff to ensure that the orders are delivered in time.

Adjusting the sails to meet consumer demands

Amazon is an industry leader in the category with deep domain expertise in the segment and a worldwide presence. It is valued at $143 billion whereas Flipkart has a meager $15 billion valuation. However, Flipkart is finding a foothold in India with venture funding pouring money into it like there’s no tomorrow. Its reliable services, timely delivery, and quality packaging have helped to drive up its sales by increasing its customer acquisition and retention. Flipkart was also the first to provide cash-on-delivery services in the country and thus it became an instant hit among students who did not have access to e-banking tools like debit cards and credit cards.

Flipkart is gunning to increase the gross merchandise value in order to build a competitive brand valuation.It started its e-commerce business by selling books and has expanded into the fashion segment with its acquisition of online fashion site Myntra.

Benefiting from exclusive tie-ups

Another reason for Flipkart’s massive popularity is its exclusive product launches. Flipkart has joined hands with many companies and has launched their products exclusively on its site. It launched the Xiaomi range of smart-phones in 2014, which gained instant popularity in the Indian market. Flipkart’s brand visibility was greatly optimized through this strategy. Flipkart also provides early access to many popular products before they are available in the retail market. Many customers compare the prices of products in the retail market with that of the online market before making their purchase decisions. Since Flipkart has a very judicious pricing, people come back to the e-commerce site to buy the same products.

Delivering services beyond the cities

Flipkart, which delivers its services to many remote Indian towns, has a better reach in the country as compared to Amazon. A study by Technopak revealed that about 50% of online sales are from consumers outside the top eight cities in India. The consumer is an informed lot and wants to replicate the lifestyle of its counterparts in cities. The online retail trend gathered momentum across the country because people living outside the metropolitan cities could access a wide range of products and services which are not locally available.

Flash sales enhancing the brand recall

Flipkart has been holding discount sales on the lines of Black day sales held in the US. Even though its Big Billion Day Sale backfired, it managed to earn a stupendous single-day sale of about $100 million. Amazon on the other hand is trying to catch up, unable to take on Flipkart in its own game.

What is in for consumers?

Is it a ‘dot com boom and bust story’ or does it have a positive market potential is what remains to be seen. However,with Amazon’s and Flipkart’s supply chain and deep discounted prices,it is the consumer who stands to profit among the fight between the two.