Flipkarting towards the internet economy
I am very cynical of customer service in India, and you would know it if you have read my earlier posts ( Unreported Dell Sucks, Ringtones of Customer Non-Service, Small unpleasant experience on Spice Jet flight). But the situation is not that bad. One (and probably the only one) that gave me delight is Flipkart. But first a disclosure: I have no monetary / commercial involvement with Flipkart, other than being a buyer on their site.
Now the event: Last June (2011), I placed an order for a 8 GB Creative Zen X-Fi 2 video mp3 player. It was a gift to my daughter Ruwi. It was in a working condition, when received, but within 15 days, almost half of the screen went blank.
Ruwi uses her stuff very carefully. As a dad who stresses on discipline and responsibility, I first made sure there was no mistake from our side. No, she hadn’t dropped it and there was no sign of a scratch or damage on it. Reassured myself, I emailed flipkart support (on 22-Jun-2011) asking how to get it fixed.
Their reply was typical Indian-low-customer-service-level standard. They wrote, “We apologize for the inconvenience caused. You will make to approach your nearest service center withe the invoice as it will act as the warranty card (sic). You may write back if you have further concerns.” I looked up yellow pages, the web etc., and called the service centers but none of the listed phone numbers was working.
I again wrote to Flipkart, asking the name of the service center. They wrote back that I have to take the mp3 player to a Mr. Boddula Shekar, Pereira Building H.No 1-2-224 (95-1), Sarojini Devi Naidu Road. But when the mp3 player was taken there - my brother-in-law took it - the person told that since the distributor is Cyberstar Infocom Pvt Ltd., Chennai, it has to be taken to another service center located in P.G. Road, Secunderabad.
This second service center (Cyberstar - Mr. Vijay) also said they will not repair it. Despite requests, both the service centers refused to take the piece for service. We are stuck with the mp3 player without any help. The mp3 player was used properly, does not have any scratches and the service centers also confirmed that there is no damage to the piece.
I was very disappointed with the so-called service centers’ response. Minus 1 for Hyderabad. Though I had given up hopes on getting the device repaired, I wrote to Flipkart support again (on 20-Jul-11), as one final call informing them of the refusal of the so-called service centers to fix the player.
Then the magic happened. They wrote back on the same day: “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused in this regard. We have noted your concern and are arranging for the replacement of the MP3 Player. The replacement is expected to be delivered in the next 3-4 business days. The new order ID for the replacement is OD1072016767R. This will also reflect in the order page of your Flipkart account. In the meantime, we request you to pack the defective MP3 Player securely and address it to our Bangalore Warehouse“.
I was mighty pleased with their response. Plus 1 for Bengaluru. Quickly after that, I received the new player and handed over the dysfunctional device, packed as instructed, to the delivery person. Ruwi was glad she got the replacement and I conveyed our happiness to Flipkart.
Subsequently, we saw Flipkart ads on TV, with kids talking about online purchase, and how Flipkart will replace if the purchases are defective. Sometimes I felt those ads were made after my mp3 player experience. Perhaps Flipkart has had more such incidents. Anyways, I became more confident of Flipkarting (a new word I’m coining - like googling is synonymous with searching) and purchased a Sony PSP for Rayyan.
Flipkart gets a lot of media coverage. More recently it was mentioned for campus hiring. This year, they went on a upcurve with their hiring from premier institutes. As per a Business Standard report, “In the current placement season alone, Flipkart has made around 120 offers at IITs and another 25 on various other campuses. The current headcount at Flipkart is 4,500.”
Getting bright minds on board and keeping a laser sharp focus on customer delight are but two key ingredients for a fabulous encore. Not to mention their building up huge warehouses and their in house delivery system. The delivery receipt I get has the heading “Flipkart Logistics”. Which, I’m not sure though. Building warehouses and logistics infrastructure doesn’t seem to be a core competence for an online seller. Let’s see how this part of their story pans out.
And the story is not about this company alone, it is about the whole online purchase space and the India internet boom. You might have read about the recent news item about The Boston Consulting Group’s report.
It says, “India’s internet economy contributed Rs. 3.2 trillion to the overall economy in 2010, representing 4.1 percent of GDP. The report projected that this will rise to Rs. 10.8 trillion by 2016.” The report also states “India’s internet economy growth rate of 23% places it as the 2nd fastest among the G-20 countries and ahead of many other developing nations in the G-20, which are growing at an average of 17.8%. Projected growth rates elsewhere are; 24.3% in Argentina, 18.3% in Russia and 15.6% in Mexico.”
So! As we flipkart inside a booming internet economy, you all - web programmers, technocrats, startup entrepreneurs - are on the cusp of a massive tidal wave. And the pie is there for the taking. But don’t forget the first principle: customer service is the key.
Images Courtesy
Image 1 : sevanet
Image 2: wegolook