Description: Flipkart, now owned by Walmart, is credited for being amongst the first companies to power the Indian startup movement. We discuss how Flipkart changed India.
Flipkart vs The Indian Mindset
Delhi 2007
If someone wants to buy clothes – Sarojini Nagar and Janpath
If someone wants to buy electronics – Gaffar Market and Nehru Place
If someone wants to eat great food – Chandni Chowk
If someone wants a little of everything – Connaught Place
Delhi 2019
If someone wants to buy clothes – Myntra
If someone wants to buy electronics – Flipkart and Amazon
If someone wants to eat great food – Swiggy and Zomato
If someone wants a little of everything – Multiple online platforms to the rescue
12 years.
It took Delhiites twelve years to change their shopping habits completely. A similar trend was seen in other metro cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, and more. People changed in these twelve years. They changed despite being conditioned for many decades to visit popular markets to buy whatever the needed.
Multiple factors led to this change. The internet became more accessible, as did devices through which once could access it. People become more adept at using digital devices, more trusting of the content and products being offered by digital platforms, and better educated about the basic use of technology.
If there has to be a single person or brand or company that can be credited for this change, there is one that comes to mind- Flipkart.
Founded in October 2007, Flipkart began its journey selling books online, just as Amazon had back when it was a startup in the 90s.
Slowly, it spread its wings into other domains. People with phones in their hands and the Flipkart app on their phone began ordering all kinds of products. Smooth and timely delivery happening multiple times ensured people started trusting Flipkart more and more.
Eventually, people began ordering anything they needed online. As other online services such as Zomato, Swiggy, Ola, and FoodPanda started coming to the market, they were helped by the years of education Flipkart had given Indian consumers to trust online businesses.
Flipkart’s impact, thus beyond e-commerce, has been in changing the psyche of the Indian consumer forever.
The Indian Mindset – Flipkart’s Biggest Challenge
Young people now may not remember such a time, but there was a time when an Indian was scared to enter his debit card number on a payment page.
There was a huge lack of trust in a typical Indian consumer when it came to doing transactions online. While the Western world had been heavily exposed to online payment services like PayPal and Escrow, Indians still preferred dealing with cash. Salaries were distributed in cheques, colleges accepted tuition fees in DDs, and people were scared to swipe their debit cards in restaurants and ATMs thinking their bank account would be drained empty.
How could an e-commerce business sustain itself in such a market? Simple. Add a cash-on-delivery option.
Flipkart understood the apprehension people had while buying something online. Rather than running useless marketing campaigns to educate users about the ease of online transactions, they began offering a cash-on-delivery option.
To a normal Indian customer, this was a gift sent from the heavens. They only had to pay for something when they were receiving the product.
By introducing the cash-on-delivery option, Flipkart built a relationship of trust with its customers. Slowly, people began trusting Flipkart to the extent that they started paying for products with their debit and credit cards online.
Making people confident to shop online was the first step. The next challenge was making people choose online shopping over retail. This was accomplished largely on two pillars – impeccable customer service and fast delivery.
Learning from Amazon, Flipkart ensured any concern its customers had were seamlessly resolved. Only with a stable customer service structure could the brand hope to maintain loyalty and longevity.
Competition
Flipkart competed with Snapdeal and Myntra in its early days. Other smaller players such as ShopClues also had a reasonable level of growth. They were all dwarfed by Flipkart’s speed and efficiency. When it came to the Indian e-commerce scene, it was hard to look past Flipkart.
Amazon’s arrival in 2013 changed all that.
Known for their ruthlessness, Amazon showed they meant business when they announced they were investing $2B in India, just a day after Flipkart announced their $1B funding round.
Amazon had a history of wiping local competition in whichever country it entered. After a sour experience in China where it struggled to make an impact, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos wanted to ensure the Indian market doesn’t get away.
Since Amazon’s arrival, the Indian e-commerce market has become a two-horse race. Myntra got acquired by Flipkart in 2014, a smart move considering Amazon could have made a similar deal at a cut-price rate later down the line.
Years of tough competition with Amazon has bruised Flipkart. Unlike its previous competitors, Amazon is much more committed to dominating the e-commerce segment.
Legacy of Flipkart
In May 2018, Walmart announced it had acquired Flipkart for $16B for a controlling position of 77% stake.
This was a major shift in the dynamic of the battle between Flipkart and Amazon. Walmart joining the battle to fight Amazon for the e-commerce sector in India is very similar to how Amazon has been battling Walmart in the US for years.
The legacy of Flipkart, despite what may happen to it in the future, will be the way it changed the mindset of Indian consumers. Before Flipkart, it was difficult to fathom Indian consumers buying products online.
The scenario discussed at the beginning showcased how the habits of people changed in a matter of twelve years. This change was brought on to a large extent by Flipkart. Amazon may have bruised and bloodied Flipkart enough to accept being acquired by Amazon, but their true legacy is making Indian people acquire and appreciate the habit of online shopping.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, this article covered the role Flipkart played in changing the Indian mindset forever. The success of many Indian tech startups such as Paytm, Swiggy, Zomato, and Ola is down to the way Flipkart educated Indian consumers to look online for all their solutions.
About the Author – Gaurav Heera is a renowned digital marketing trainer and entrepreneur with more than a decade of experience in the field. He currently heads work at DelhiCourses.in, an institute he founded in 2008. DelhiCourses is known best for its digital marketing training in Delhi.
