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 site with ads (but those aren't ads :). In its first few months - Amazon.in was terribly slow - but now thats never a problem. Now Amazon is easier to surf and look at and the rates are almost similar
3. Flipkart has a trust problem with many users and its just harder to fix that. On one account they had no-idea where the item was. After a lot of delay(about a week) - they sent me the same item twice and they didn't realize it. After a week I wrote back to them to collect the duplicate item and I got the response below:
"This is due to the fact that most our courier partners are tied up with us for deliveries alone and some of the locations are currently not serviceable by our pick-up partners.
Once the product is reaches us, I assure you that the courier charges you incur will be reimbursed to your Flipkart Wallet and you’ll receive an automated e-mail as soon as your wallet is credited. This has unlimited validity.
Kindly pack the product in the brand box if any with the MRP tag and send it to the below mentioned address with the return ID labeled on it. Also, please mention your address. "
Why would I hustle to courier them back? And "no pickup partners in that area" was a plain lie. I just try to avoid Flipkart after that incident and prefer buying from Amazon even if it is slightly costlier.
4. And when they went "Mobile-only"... I was like - I DO NOT WANT THAT APP (They reversed that BAD decision pretty soon)
I have not bought anything from Flipkart since more than one year. The company was doomed from the start, I had the chance to see it form their interview process. It is so broken that I felt it outrageous that it was the _hottest_ startup in India.
Amazon is awesome, because it provides low prices + quality service. It isn't just "discount retailing"
Flipkart built its reputation on motorola phones because Moto was exclusive on Flipkart, beyond that they never really picked up, the thing is Flipkart's quality reduced time over time and their approach itself was wrong, they started on "discounts" when they should have started on maintaining their customer service.
But typical Indian business, once they "grow" they don't care about customers anymore, the only puzzling thing is that how does Flipkart act like it from now itself, by no definition are they grown or successful or both.
How is it typical of Indian businesses? I feel like this is overgeneralizing that aspect.
I can see what you mean in this specific instance though. I wonder if its just lack of experience in transitions from a small company to a bigger one in the India startup environment.
I would put the whole Indian business thing in a different way. India is a pretty difficult market. Its not that the companies don't care about the customers rather things get complicated too quickly.
Amazon had to cutback on its returns and refunds policy on mobile phones back in Feb/March.
Comparatively I can still get refunds on Amazon US.
Logistics is also a nightmare in India which causes a lot of delays.
The thing is I don't care about delays, refunds or returns.
All I care is that I get a good service. Amazon sends more communication, if their product is delayed, the make sure that they send a SMS. Of course we don't expect everything to be delivered daily
Basically it is obvious since Amazon has been matured into a good product since the past 30yrs!
>>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.
Flipkart has far better ui. I can filter down my choices. Was never impressed with amazons search. Flipkart has good service as well. But i prefer amazon after the whole mobile only thing.
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 site with ads (but those aren't ads :). In its first few months - Amazon.in was terribly slow - but now thats never a problem. Now Amazon is easier to surf and look at and the rates are almost similar
3. Flipkart has a trust problem with many users and its just harder to fix that. On one account they had no-idea where the item was. After a lot of delay(about a week) - they sent me the same item twice and they didn't realize it. After a week I wrote back to them to collect the duplicate item and I got the response below:
"This is due to the fact that most our courier partners are tied up with us for deliveries alone and some of the locations are currently not serviceable by our pick-up partners.
Once the product is reaches us, I assure you that the courier charges you incur will be reimbursed to your Flipkart Wallet and you’ll receive an automated e-mail as soon as your wallet is credited. This has unlimited validity.
Kindly pack the product in the brand box if any with the MRP tag and send it to the below mentioned address with the return ID labeled on it. Also, please mention your address. "
Why would I hustle to courier them back? And "no pickup partners in that area" was a plain lie. I just try to avoid Flipkart after that incident and prefer buying from Amazon even if it is slightly costlier.
4. And when they went "Mobile-only"... I was like - I DO NOT WANT THAT APP (They reversed that BAD decision pretty soon)