Pricing Strategy Comparison of Flipkart and Snapdeal

A comparative study on pricing strategies of Flipkart and Snapdeal
CONTENTS
1. Introduction…………. ……………………………………………………………….7
1.1.Introduction and Brief history of snap deal……………………………………….8-17
1.2. Introduction and Brief history of flip kart……………………………………….18-40
1.3.Literature Review…………………………………………………………………41-50
2. Methodology and Data Collection……….…………………………............................51-54
2.1 Research Methodology……………………………………………………………51-52

2.2 Data collection method……………………………………………………………53-54
3. Data Analysis…….…………………………………………………………………....56-80
3.1 Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………...56-76

3.2 Hypothesis Testing………………………………………………………………...77-80
4. Findings and Suggestions………………………………………………………………81-85
5. Conclusion……………………….…………………………………………………….86-87
6. Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………88-89
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Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction
E-Commerce in India is one of the fastest growing & emerging economies of the world,
having a very huge consumer base & a big mass connected to Internet (approx. 100 million). The E-
business trend have been catching up in the country with the increasing rates of local& domestic firms
using the E-business model to do business which is very different from the traditional way of doing
business in India, it has led to an interesting trend in the market for the online shopping starting right
from ordering food, grocery, vegetables, fruits, taxis, electronics & so on. GC) total enrolment in
Science, Medicine, Agriculture, and Engineering crossed 6.5 million in 2010. Charu Sudan Kasturi
reported in the Hindustan Times (New Delhi, January 10, 2011) that the number of women choosing
engineering has more than doubled since 2001.We propose an Approach to Evaluate Subjective
Questions for Online Examination System. Interesting facts & figures about the portal
I have selected three main e-commerce portals for my Study, i.e. “Flipkart.com, e-bay, snap
deal”. Now I would try to analyze which portal is the Emerging Indian online mega store. I would be
studying the strategies that the portal have used to attract Indian masses, so as to give them the total
online shopping experience, the portal offers an unique strategy to masses to make payment modes
like cash and card on delivery invariably helps the masses to avoid the hassle of making online
payments, as the credit card penetration in India is very low, & people are reluctant to make online
payments more to do with the Indians psyche .Since portals are giving a customized offering to the
masses i.e. rite from the wider product portfolio to payment options, its making very convenient for
the users to have online shopping experience hassle free. Let’s study & evaluate 3 core business
model can survive in future or will be successful & why.
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INTRODUCTION ABOUT FLIPKART AND SNAPDEAL
SNAP DEAL:
It is one of the first and largest online marketplaces in India. It has recently launched its best
mobile app for IOS. In this model, the E-commerce player does not sell any goods/services on its
own but offers discount coupons which can be used by buyers to avail discount at the time of buying
or availing service from merchant.
Snap deal is an e-commerce company based in India. It is a daily deals website that features
discount offers across lifestyle segments such as dining, health & beauty, entertainment, and travel.
It also offers discounts on products like electronics, perfumes, watches, and bags, sunglasses,
coaching classes, apparels, and mobile phones.
Headquartered in Delhi, Snapdeal.com was launched in February 2010. The company was
founded by Kunal Bahl, a Wharton graduate and Rohit Bansal, alumnus of IIT Delhi who were friends
since school. Snapdeal.com serves as an advertising platform for merchants and a discount platform
for customers. For the merchants who collaborate with Snapdeal, it is a cost- effective channel for
acquiring new customers. It also works as a risk-free alternate marketing channel. From the
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merchant’s standpoint, they are passing on the customer acquisition cost in the form of a discount
offer.
Snapdeal (SD) gets the best offer possible from the merchants from around 65 cities across India and
then deducts a small amount of commission.SD aims at showing at least 40-90% off in the deals from
what one has to pay. Depending upon how good the offer is, SD deducts their commission starting
from Rs.99 going up to Rs.299. For products, SD has a set of commissions. The most ideal amount
of commission SD charges with selling a product is 23%. More than 50-60 thousand products are
available online for customers to choose from.
In June 2010, Snapdeal.com acquired Bangalore-based group buying site, Grabbon.com for an
undisclosed amount. Snap deal has been rated the no 1 e-commerce site in India, in terms of traction
by Dataquest/Sapient E- commerce Survey 2011. Snap deal in tricity shoots out about 4 lakh
promotional text messages and about 4-5 lakh emails, including newsletters within a month.
Headmasters, Tress Lounge, Manor, Lemon, J.W. Marriot, and Rajdhani are some of the top clients
for Snap deal in the tricity with the most repetitive orders.
Snapdeal was started on 4 February 2010 as a daily deals platform but expanded in September
2011 to become an online marketplace. Snap deal has grown to become one of the largest online
marketplace in India offering an assortment of 10 million products across diverse categories from
over 100,000 sellers, shipping to 5,000+towns and cities in India. In March 2015, Snapdeal brought
actor Aamir Khan for the promotion of its website in India.
Snap deal is an online marketplace, New Delhi, India. The company was started by Kunal
Bahl, a Wharton graduate as part of the dual degree M&T Engineering and Business program at
Penn, and Rohit Bansal, an alumnus of IIT Delhi in February 2010. Snapdeal currently has 275,000
sellers, 30 million-plus products and a reach of 6,000 towns and cities across the country. Investors
in the company include Softbank Corp, Ru-Net Holdings, Tybourne Capital, Premji Invest, Alibaba,
Holdings, Bessemer, IndoUS Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Saama Capital, Foxconn Technology Group,
Blackrock, eBay, Nexus Ventures, Capital, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Singapore-based
investment entity Brother Fortune Apparel and Ratan Tata. When Snapdeal acquired Free Charge in
an equity deal, investors Sequoia Capital India, Valiant Capital, Sofina, Ru-Net Holdings, and
Tybourne Capital also became shareholders in Snapdeal.
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Achievements:
 E Retailer of the Year & Best Advertising campaign of the year - Indian E Retailer awards 2012
organized by Franchise India in Feb,2012
 Winner of Red Herring Asia Awards 2011.
 E-commerce site of the year at WAT awards that took place in Jan 2012, Mumbai
 Voted amongst the Busiest brands of India in afaqs's annual buzz-making poll
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Snapdeal
Parent Company Jasper InfoTech
Category Website-online advertising and discount on goods
Sector IT and Technology
Tagline/ Slogan Super Deals
USP Excellent customer service and wide array of deals in major cities
STP
Segment Internet users
Target Group Internet users relying on internet for shopping and other transactions
Positioning Positioned as best advertising and discount platform in the market
SWOT Analysis
1. Constant innovations and good branding

2. Vast network of retailers across nation
3. Excellent service through convenient processes
4. Wide range of deals and transactions to choose from

Strengths 5. Lots of awards and recognition as best startups, ecommerce etc
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1.Services not available in all cities
Weaknesses 2.Dependence on internet only
1. The markets devoid of internet

2.Customers reluctant in shopping online can be persuaded
Opportunities 3.Partnerships with bigger corporate houses for bulk selling
1. Can be subjected to frauds

2. Risk of being involved into selling of illegal entities
Threats 3. Newly emerging competitive online shopping portals
Competition
1.Couponduniya.in
2.Amazon
Competitors 3. EBay
Awards and recognition:
 Retailer of the Year & Best Advertising campaign of the year - Indian e-Retail awards 2012
organized by Franchise India in Feb 2012.
 Winner of Red Herring Asia Awards 2011.
 E-commerce site of the year at WAT awards that took place in Jan 2012, Mumbai.
 Voted amongst the busiest brands of India in afaqs's annual buzz-making poll.
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Marketing mix
The 4 ‘Ps’
The marketing mix can be defined in terms of its four components – product, price, place, and
promotion. Understanding each of these factors can give us a clear picture of the tool.
Product:
Stated simply, a “product” can be defined as the company’s offering. A product is that item
which a company develops and is ready to offer to consumers. The product can also be in the form
of a service, for example, a taxi company that offers rides to consumers from one place to another in
exchange for a fee.
This “P” of the marketing mix is fundamental to all businesses. While developing the product, a
company must consider the following factors that are crucial to the business.
• The demand for the product
• The needs of the customer that are satisfied through the product
• The market for the product in the future
• Competitive products in the market
• Adaptability of the product to the changing environment
• Factors affecting the demand for the product
• Branding and packaging of the product
• Goal achieved through selling the product
Price:
Price is an important factor in the marketing mix. Many companies today are advertising “free
services” or “complimentary products”. However, this does not mean that the price component of the
marketing mix is of no consideration as free or low-cost products often have a distinct advantage over
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other products. The price component of the marketing mix does not always refer to the cost of the
product, but the perceived value of the product or service.
Consumers choose one product over the other because of its value to them, resulting from
personal choice, experience, economic conditions or other factors. For example, a consumer may buy
a more expensive bathing soap than a cheaper one due to his/her fondness for the fragrance of the
soap. Similarly, a consumer may be loyal to an expensive brand of clothing due to his/her past
experiences. Thus, cost alone is not the determining factor for a consumer to purchase a product.
The following factors must be considered by a company before evaluating the price of its product or
service.
• Cost of the product
• The value of the product or service to the consumer
• Price sensitivity of the product
• Prices of competitors’ products
• Discounts and incentives that can be offered
• Tradeoffs for the consumer
Place:
The place component of the marketing mix does not only mean the physical place of selling the
product. Here, place also refers to the method by which the product or service is distributed to the
consumers. The following factors are to be considered while deciding the place of distribution of the
product.
• The place or medium where the consumer will look for the product or service
• The location of the store, in case a physical store is required
• The feasibility of online presence of the product
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• The distribution channels that can be used other the main channel opted for distribution of the
product
• Requirement of a sales force
• Distribution channels followed by competitors and scope for differentiation
Promotion:
Promotion of the product refers to all the methods through which the public is informed about
the product of service that a company has to offer. ‘Promotion’ includes advertising, public relations,
branding, and sales. Promotion can affect sales in a huge way as it ultimately makes the product
visible to the consumer. A company must consider the following for a sound promotional strategy.
• Knowledge of the target audience
• Mediums to gain access to the target audience
• Time of promotion to get full attention of the target customers
• Use of internet, social media to increase visibility of the product or service
• Environmental or social issues that may dictate the timing of launch of the product
• Timing of subsequent promotions
• Ways of increasing brand awareness
• Handling promotion at the point of sales
• Promotional strategy of competitor
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FLIPKART
HISTORY
Flipkart is among India’s largest online retailers. With headquarter in Bangalore, Karnataka,
India established on 5th September 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. It is registered in
Singapore and is operated from India, where it is headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. Started as
an online bookstore, but has since diversified into media, consumer durables, apparels, computers.
Flipkart went live in 15th October 2007 with start- up investment of four lakh rupees, the
objective of making books easily available to anyone who had internet access. With over 11.5 million
book titles listed, 11 different categories, more than 2 million registered users and sales of 30000
items a day. From an initial investment of $8,000, this humble seed of desire has germinated into a
$100 million e-retailing. (April 7, 2012). Ranked amongst the top 5 websites in India (as per Alexa
rankings). It is the first billion-dollar company in Indian e-commerce.
Founder of Flipkart
Sachin Bansal is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Binny Bansal is the Chief Operating
Officer (COO). They are the co-founder of Flipkart.com
Graduated from IIT Delhi with a degree in Computer Science.
They worked at Amazon India for a tenure of 6 to 8 months before taking entrepreneurial plunge
with Flipkart.com
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Figure 3.1
The journey of Flipkart.com
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Nature of Business
Ecommerce (or electric commerce) refers to the buying and selling of goods and services via
electronic channels, primarily the Internet. Online retail is decidedly convenient due to its 24-hour
availability, global reach, and generally efficient customer service.
Flipkart .com is India’s leading e-commerce marketplace with over 30 million products across 70
plus categories. It has 46 million registered users, 8 million shipments per month, 10 million daily
page visits and 14 state- of –the- art warehouses.
Figure 3.2
Presence of Flipkart.com in E-tailing
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Products
In the year 2004 Started as an online bookstore, the objective of making books easily available
to anyone who had internet access. With over 11.5 million book titles listed, 11 different categories.
Science then they have diverse range of products.
In 2010, they added to their catalogue media (including music, movies and games), also added
consumer durables like mobile phones, accessories, and also introduced the concept cash on delivery.
In 2011, other durable items like computers, home and kitchen appliances, personal care, etc. In
November, Filpkart launched a concept of Electronic Wallet. In the year 2012, a segment for kids
where introduced.
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Flipkart’s Success Mantra
Great customer service:
Flipkart users are more satisfied than that of their competitors. Great customer service has been its
hallmark.
Easy to use website, hassle free payment system: The user interface is sleek and easy to use.
Cash on delivery/Card on delivery mode of payment: This has been a major instrument in Flipkart’s
success. Almost 60% of its sales happen through this mode. Cash on delivery created trust in the
minds of Indian customers who were always weary of making payments online.
Focused on user experience: Every other e-commerce site, tried to cram the maximum of amount
of information possible into every single page whereas Flipkart focused on providing only the
relevant info
Future Road Map
They aim at 10 times growth and eyes at $ 1Billion sales by 2015.
They will look at bigger investments in their supply chain and technology.
Investment will be made in large warehouses and increased automation of their process, so that the
product is not delayed.
They intend to enter in to various new categories and expand their current categories as well.
Everything except for groceries and automobiles will be available on Flipkart in future.
To go further in the value chain, Flipkart is looking at associations with a larger number of suppliers
and partners, both nationally and internationally
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Marketing mix of Flipkart
Product in the marketing mix of Flipkart
Flipkart is an online retailing industry and started its operations with the sale of books. For
two years, it sold only books through its website as the management and shipment of books was much
easier. After its expansion, it started dealing with products like air coolers, washing machines, air
conditioner, life style products, stationary supplies, cell phones, computers, calculators, microwave
ovens, water purifiers, laptops, cameras, and audio players, products relating to health care,
dishwashers, and e-books. Products sold on Flipkart have the same warranties of the brand if sold
outside in a showroom.
It has recently launched its personal product range called “DigiFlip”. Under this brand, it
offers products like computer accessories, camera bags, headphones, and pen drives. In July, Flipkart
introduced its own tablet phones and networking router under its personal range “DigiFlip”.
On February 5, 2014 in a special tie up with Motorola Mobility, Flipkart has provided a
platform for the launch of ‘Moto G’. Online shoppers went crazy with the unveiling of this smart
phone. This awe-inspiring response resulted in the sales of nearly 20,000 mobiles in a few hours.
Continuing their association, ‘Moto X’, an Android smartphone, was introduced on March 19.
On May 13, ‘Moto E ’was launched at the same site triggering the same response. Continuing this
success story Flipkart in a tie up with Xiao MI-Tech introduced ‘XiaomiMi3’ on its platform. In the
first phase on22nd July all the phones were sold in just 39 minutes and in the 2nd phase on 29th July
the sold out was complete in only 5 seconds. On 5th August, the sale was completed in just 2 seconds.
This amazing response and hyper mania has helped in giving Flipkart an immense lift.
Place in the Marketing mix of Flipkart
Flipkart functions entirely in India and it has its headquarters in the Garden City of Bangalore
in Karnataka. It is owned by a Singapore based company and is registered over there. According to
India’s foreign policy, a foreign company is not allowed e- retailing over here. Therefore, in India,
Flipkart sells the merchandises through an Indian company WS Retail. Flipkart also provides its own
platform to other companies who are interested in selling their goods. The website is very easy and
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hassle free. Browsing, keeping track of products, getting reviews, ordering goods and payment
methods are very convenient for the individuals.
At first Flipkart started its operations on the consignment model in which they personally
bought the book and couriered it. Later they opened many warehouses where the goods were stored
safely. The first warehouse was opened in Bangalore and later in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,
Hyderabad, Pune, Noida, and Kolkata. As of today, more than five hundred suppliers are working for
Flipkart. At least 80% of the orders placed are handled and controlled via warehouses. Shipping
companies and courier companies are the real mediators in this setup. The quick and well-organized
service is the reason the company has been able to put its mark on the Indian market. Their delivery
network is spread over thirty-seven cities with delivery being possible in any nook and corner.
Price in the Marketing mix of Flipkart
Though Flipkart started its venture with an investment of just INR 400,000, today its net worth
is nearly 1billion dollars as its sales are increasing day by day. It still earns revenue of 50% from
selling books online. Electronic commerce has become a huge hit because of Flipkart. Its price policy
is very flexible because of online transactions. Amount to be charged is determined after looking at
the innumerable expenses like transport expenses, supplier expenses, packaging costs, courier
charges, shipping cost, office expenses, maintenance expenses, discount allowances, depreciation,
taxes, advertisement expenses and many other expenses.
Discounts up to 35% are allowed periodically to boost up the sales and maintain competitive
prices. For payments, Flipkart allows credit card transactions, cash payment after delivery,
transaction through debit card, by swiping card on delivery, vouchers available as e-gift and net
banking.
Promotions in the Marketing mix of Flipkart
Flipkart has changed the concept of multi brand retailing of products through internet in India.
Its huge success has proved to be an inspiration for other companies. It operates mostly through mouth
advertising. The satisfied customers have been their best promoters. To have a firm grip on the online
world Flipkart has used the services of Google Ad-words and SEO. These marketing tools have made
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them household names. Downloading the exclusive app of Flipkart helps in getting alerts about the
current offers, order status, price drops, recent launches, and various gift coupons.
Flipkart has also taken the help of creative and interesting advertisements so that an awareness
and trust is generated for their website amongst the people. Their first campaign was shown on TVC
with the concept that books can be delivered with just a single click. Recently an ad has been launched
to increase the social visibility where the tag line is “No Kidding No Worries”. Trained individuals
are hired to fulfill their responsibilities adequately. The systematic planning and level of effort
undertaken to reach such heights is commendable.
Pricing strategies
Without going into the theoretical and the management theories, pricing can be set on the following
points:
1. Operating Margins - Essentially determining what the company earns to sustain business and turn
a profit
2. Strategic pricing - Basically overall pricing strategy where some products are given at a higher
discount to capture market share or consumer mindshare.
So, individual product pricing can be higher or lower while the overall picture is kept in mind so that
the company can sustain itself on an overall profits or deep enough pockets to work on losses for
sometimes.
Price is optimized best when the overall cost to the company per product is optimized. So that means
here the contributing factors have to be looked at and the costing there has to be optimized.
So, looking at the major cost factors that affect the E-Commerce that are taken care of Flipkart:
1. Supply Chain (procurement and shipping):
Flip kart's core competency lies in their Supply chain and logistics which has been perfectly
monitored and managed by professionals. This involves a deep understanding of where the suppliers
are and where the end consumers are so that when a customer orders a product, it can reach him by
the shortest route in the shortest time and minimum manpower time being spent.
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This also means that customer demand is anticipated and pre-emptive steps are taken so that products
are ready to be shipped from the point closest to the consumer before he even places the order.
This helps in reducing the overall cost of moving the product to consumer's place. The overall cost
of Flipkart has been reduced to great extent, all thanks to Blue Dart, the logistics partner of Flipkart. It
is so because the transportation cost has been reduced and therefore Flipkart is able to earn a
reasonable margin on the sale of product, belongs to the actual producer
2. Manpower and time spent on each order:
We must understand that all operations have to be made sustainable and more importantly scalable
for ultimate long term growth. So, all process from what route a person takes to pick up material to
how much time it takes to pack a product have to be looked at and it is when a company works toward
optimizing all these processes that a company really starts to take the lead.
1. Competition
Competition is increasing day by day and by the end of 2015, there will be huge number of players
in E-commerce in India. With the rise in Internet users, the numbers of e-commerce companies are
also increasing. So, Flipkart will face tough fights in future and they should be ready for it. Snapdeal
is currently the biggest competitor of Flipkart. Other close competitor includes Group on, best deals
etc.
Capital Structure
From an initial investment of $8,000, this humble seed of desire has germinated into a $100
million e-retailing. (April 7, 2012). Flipkart received in May2014, $10 million from DST Global, in
July it raised $1 billion led by existing investors Tiger Global and South Africa’s media group
Naspers. Flipkart’s last fundraising in December has pegged its valuation at $ 12 billion.
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Turnovers
In Fiscal Year 2008-09, revenue generated 40 million
In FY 2009- 2010, revenue generated 200 million
In FY 2010- 2011, revenue generated 750 million
In FY 2011- 2012, estimated revenue generated 5 billion.
Flipkart projects it’s sales to reach USD $ 1 billion by 2014 and generating a revenue of 50 billion
(USD $ 1 billion) by 2015.
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Organizational Structure
Figure 3.5
Organization Structure Flipkart.com India
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Awards and recognition:
 In September 2015, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal entered Forbes India Rich List debuting at
the 86th position with a net worth of $1.3 billion each.
 Co-Founder of Flipkart, Sachin Bansal, got Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2012-2013 from
Economic Times, leading Indian Economic Daily.
 Flipkart.com was awarded Young Turk of the Year at CNBC TV 18's 'India Business Leader
Awards 2012' (IBLA).
 Flipkart.com- got nominated for IndiaMART Leaders of Tomorrow Awards 2011.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths in the SWOT analysis of Flipkart
1. India’s Largest E-commerce Retailer:
Flipkart is the India’s largest E-commerce company & had sold GMV (gross merchandising
value) of $1 billion till now.
2. Experienced founders:
The Founders of Flipkart, Sachin & Binny Bansal are Ex-Amazon employees. Having prior
experience in the E-commerce industry helped the founders to work strategically and differentiate
their business in a highly competitive market.
3. Acquisition:
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With its series of acquisitions like Letsbuy.co, chakpak.com, weread.com, Mine360 & the
recent one Myntra in 2014 has helped the company to expand in the E-commerce space & used the
capabilities and existing resources of acquired companies.
4. High Brand recall:
Flipkart has established itself as a renowned E-commerce company in India through TV ads,
online branding and through its presence on social media. Brand activities like the “Big billion day”
have really increased the brand recall of the company.
5. Own Payment gateway & Logistic arm:
Having its own Coordination Arm E-kart & payment gateway Pay zippy has helped the
company to control its Expenses. Thereby passing the benefits to the end customers.
6. Exclusive & broad range of products:

From having Exclusive rights to launch some products like MotoGMotoX, Xiao MI3 as well
as personal designer’s segments in garments category, has helped the company to differentiate and
localize its offerings.
Weaknesses in the SWOT analysis of Flipkart
1. Limited Distribution channel reach:
Although its coordination arm has kept cost’s low, the reach has been affected which is
weakness for Flipkart. Due to use of outsourcing, Global giants like Amazon & eBay can deliver
the product anywhere in the country. However, Flipkart is still struggling in this field.
2. Cost of Acquisition:
Due to stiff competition in the market & low customer retention, the cost of Acquisition is high
because Flipkart acquires a lot of customers through online advertising. As per Flipkart data, the
company spends R.s 400/- on acquiring a new customer on an average.
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3. Power in the hand of buyers:

Since this industry is flooded with many players, buyers have a lot of options to choose. Switching
costs are also less for customers since they can easily switch a service from one online retail company
to another. Same products will be displayed in several online retail websites. Product differentiation
is almost absent and the fight then begins on the basis of price only.
Opportunities in the SWOT analysis of Flipkart
1. Expansion of business:
By targeting other emerging markets company can increase their revenues as well as it can have
Economies of scale.
2. Expanding their Product categories:
This will increase their customer base & at the same time will reduce the cost of acquisition and
customer switch.
3. Changing mentality of Indian customers:
With increasing numbers of customers getting comfortable with online shopping & increase in
numbers of Internet users in India, there is huge potential in this Industry.
4. Supply chain:
By optimizing their supply chain, they can compete with the other players & can manage the
loosing sales on account of not making the product available due to delivery constraints.
5. Establishing in other developing economies:

Like Amazon, Flipkart can slowly start expanding out of India and establish operations in other
countries as well which will help improve revenues.
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Threats in the SWOT analysis of Flipkart
Competition:
Stiff competition from the global players like Amazon, eBay as well as local player like snap deal,
Telex and Shop clues who are continuously trying to take over each other’s market share.
Government regulations
On the issues related to FDI in multi branding retail has been a big hurdle in the success of the E-
commerce industry in India.
Flipkart (Company) was founded in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, both alumni
of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. They worked for Amazon.com, and left to create their
new company incorporated in October 2007 as Flipkart Online Services Pvt. Ltd. The first product
they sold was the book Leaving Microsoft to Change the World to a customer from
Hyderabad. Flipkart now employs more than 33,000 people. Flipkart allows payment methods such
as cash on delivery, credit or debit card transactions, net banking, e-gift voucher and card swipe on
delivery.
After failure of its 2014 Big Billion Sale, Flipkart recently completed the second edition of
Big Billion Sale held between October 13 and 17. Where it is reported that they saw a business
turnover of 300 million in gross merchandise volume.
Alexa rank 7, fresh capital of $1 billion, 14000 employees and day by day inching towards
becoming India’s first $100 billion internet company. Today, as Sachin Bansal turns 33, he surely
does have multiple reasons to celebrate his success but there’s much more to the story beyond these
numbers.
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Sachin admitted in an interview that starting Flipkart is the most ridiculous thing he has ever
done and everyone around him thought that he was out of his mind. Your Story explores the
evolution of Flipkart and Sachin Bansal over the last seven years, from the eyes of the founder
himself.
Power of Ecommerce
Sachin believes that ecommerce has changed the way we live. He says, “Recently when
Motorola tied up with Flipkart for the exclusive launch of Moto-G in India, they were launching the
product in India before the rest of the world. I would count that as an achievement for ecommerce.
This would not have happened if there was not an unparalleled access to customers around India. It
took 5 seconds to get over with the whole stock of Xiao Mi3 when the booking was opened for the
second time for 20000 phones. This is nothing but the power of ecommerce.”
He proudly shares that Flipkart’s delivery boys are almost like Santa Claus for many
customers. Challenges – now and then do you know VVK Chandra?
He was the person who placed the first order on Flipkart. More interesting than this fact is the
interview of Flipkart’s founders, which he published in 2008 on his blog. Sachin spoke about
the challenges in the initial days, “One major challenge was to get tie-ups with the major book
vendors as we didn’t have an offline book store. The second major challenge was to get the approval
for the credit card payment gateway.”
Today, Flipkart has almost each and every book vendor/publisher on board and even its own
payment gateway, Pay zippy. The newer challenges are with respect to maintaining a great customer
experience with the massive increase in demand. Supply chain efficiency, talent management and
technology innovation surface are the other major challenges.
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Drawing parallels
Sachin Bansal has always seen Flipkart as an Indian Alibaba rather than an Indian Amazon.
Drawing some parallels with China’s Alibaba, he says, “Yahoo had invested the same amount in
Alibaba in 2005. It was the inflexion point in China then, exactly where India is today.”
He speaks about the possibility of an IPO, “The world is different as compared to 10 years
ago. Private investors have more appetite and patience. Also, we’re figuring out stuff about our
own business. When we feel that the market is ready and our business model is not evolving (and
stabilized), we will be ready for an IPO.”
If nothing, two things can be immediately understood from this comparison:

1. Sachin is eyeing for a similar valuation for Flipkart in the coming years.
2. IPO is uncertain as of now. It might well take more time as the founders seems to be in no hurry (with
enough support from current investors). Opportunity over the years Sachin had stated before that ‘No’
is a very difficult word and more so in our culture where people quickly tend to take offense. But a
No which makes your business and customer say YES is worth the while.
Sachin has seen a lot of opportunities in Flipkart’s seven years of existence. He sees
challenges as opportunities and believes that if we can solve challenges then it automatically becomes
opportunity for everyone. “Youngsters want to live their lives on the internet. The future is bright and
we are placed right. India can produce a $ 100 billion company in the next five years and we want to
be that company. It is going to be one of the most difficult tasks ever done by an Indian company but
it’s possible.
Long term game
Flipkart plans to invest most of the raised funds in technology, supply chain and in building a
better talent pool. Sachin believes that this helps him think long term. He says, “If you look at big
internet companies, they have defined how commerce ecosystem will shape in the future. We are also
in the same process. For us the challenges are to take logistics to small towns and villages. Making
payments easy for the consumer will also play an important role.”
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Flipkart’s more than 50% revenue comes from mobile, and mobile has been at the core of Sachin’s
plan right from the beginning. He says, “Mobile gives you 10 times data as compared to desktop.
People browse more often in mobile, there are sensors like camera, GPS; which are tools giving
more information about the user. This helps in providing them with better/more localized
experiences.”
Blast from the past
Here’s an advice from Sachin and Binny Bansal to which both of them resonated in 2010,
Don’t start out alone, it helps to have a co-founder when things are not going your way. You have
not done your job well until you find a stranger who is willing to open his/her wallet to give you
money for the services/products that you a offering.
What makes us proud?
Jeff Bezos’ wealth is $32.2 billion while 30-year-old Zucker berg’s net worth just crossed $33
billion mark after Facebook’s 2014 Q2 earnings. But the news of Flipkart being valued as a multi-
billion-dollar entity is way more heartening than the former two. I believe the ‘Indian-ness’ makes
the whole difference.
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Key drivers for success for e-commerce

Reduction in operational cost as the entire business can be moved online, the need for physical
stores has become obsolete. Less infrastructural investment and associated labor costs drives up the
profit margin.
It is far easier and quicker to compare prices of goods online, equipping the customer with the
information to decide the right price or terms for themselves. With services like COD, customers can
trust the process of going online and purchasing.
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Market penetration also becomes far more achievable with e-commerce; it is possible for a
merchant in Mumbai to extend his reach to north-eastern cities or even rural villages that are now
connected by the online network.
E-commerce facilitates shopping anytime, anywhere and for almost anything desired. Busy
consumers prefer this to the restrictions of when a mall/shop is open and the need to physically travel
to a shop. Online business takes shopping a step further by taking itself to the customer creating
conveniences of shopping anywhere and at any time.
In India, with the increasing propensity of social media, businesses have now begun to engage
their customers on social networking portals such as Facebook. These are likely to be rapidly
developing marketing channels for the future.
“These businesses are difficult to turn into profitable ventures due to the low margins and the
coordination costs involved.”
Gaurav Saraf, director of Epiphany Ventures says that, the concept of online grocery shopping
faces the problem of turning their business into profitable ventures as the concept is new in the market
which leads to low margin along with low margin high cost is involved when it comes to logistics. In
addition to these problems the perishable items such as fruits & vegetables have a short shelf life, if
these items are not delivered before the expiry of their shelf life it would could cause wastage and
also add up the cost. From the above comment a conclusion is arrived that these business ventures
have a very thin margin when it comes to business operations.
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Connecting the local kirana stores with the buyers while storing inventories on the Cloud”
Vijay Singh, CEO& MD of Aaramshop.com says that in order to reduce the cost to their
business operation they applied the concept of cloud computing, where it connects the local kirana
shops with the buyers. It enables the business to reduce the inventory cost as all the inventories are
handled by the local vendor.
“Create a work-life balance”
Vijay Singh, CEO& MD of Aaramshop.com states that the concept of online grocery
shopping creates the work-life balance in urban areas where the urban couples are busy in their work
culture and cannot give time towards their daily life needs.
“It is a difficult venture and these challenges make investors more cautious while evaluating
such initiatives”
Singhal of SAIF Partners, explains that it is difficult for the investor to invest in these types
of business where the market is extremely fragmented.
Such a venture can only survive on repeat purchases and that’s what one needs to target. If a
company knows what it needs to stock, how much it needs to stock and where it needs to deliver, the
business will become simpler to manage and run. The firm needs to find a strong value proposition
and target market to survive the cut-throat competition
The solution to the above problem stated can be that in order to survive in the market the
business should target the satisfied consumer to create repeat purchases. Also inventory management
should be applied to these organizations it will enable them to what it need to stock, how much it
needs to stock and where it needs to deliver, this will allow to operate its business operation smoothly.
The first approach on how to support query operations on encrypted data with bucketization, after
the data is encrypted, the cipher text is concatenated to a bucket number, which is assigned to a
specific range that includes the data. When a user requests a query operation, the server uses the
bucket numbers to execute the query operation. For example, if a client program wants to
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Abhijit Mitra. (2013), “E-Commerce in India-A Review”, International Journal of Marketing,
Financial Services & Management Research. Concluded that The E-Commerce has broken the
geographical limitations and it is a revolution-commerce will improve tremendously in next five years
in India.
D.K. Gangeshwar. (2013),” E-Commerce or Internet Marketing: A Business Review from Indian
Context”, International Journal of u- and e- Service, Science and Technology. Concluded that the E-
commerce has a very bright future in India although security, privacy and dependency on technology
are some of the drawbacks of E-commerce but still there is a bright future to E-commerce.
Martin Dodge. (1999),” Finding the source of Amazon.com: examining the hype of the earth’s
biggest book store”, Center for Advanced Spatial Analysis. Concluded that Amazon.com has been
one of the most promising E-commerce companies and has grown rapidly by providing quality
service.
E-Retailers have developed many innovative promotions to lure customers and there by growing
the market. As one of the market trends, e-Retailing has been widely used in retail industry and growth
is increasing day by day in today‘s scenario. According to Turban (2006), e-Retailing is defined as
retailing conducted online, over the internet. The vocabulary electronic retailing that used in internet
discussions as early as 1995, the term look like an almost in evitable addition to e-mail, e-business,
and e-Commerce, etc.
E-service quality can be defined as overall customer evaluations and judgments regarding the
excellence and quality of e-service delivery in the virtual marketplace (Santos, 2003). Research over
the past two decades has demonstrated that service quality influences consumption decisions, but
only recently these findings have been applied to e-commerce (Yang and Jun 2002; Wolfinbarger and
Gilly, 2003).
Parasuraman et al. (1988) conceptualize service quality as the relative perceptual distance
between customer expectations and evaluations of service experiences and service quality using a
multi-item scale called the SERVQUAL model. The SERVQUAL model includes the five
dimensions of tangibles (physical facilities and the appearance of personnel), reliability. Promised
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service dependably and accurately), responsiveness (willingness to help customers and provide
prompt service), assurance (employee knowledge base which induces customer trust and
Confidence), and empathy (caring and individualized attention provided to customers by the service
provider).
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Abstract
Ecommerce portals are now trending in India. It is growing in every place and customers are showing
interest in using these portals effectively. There are so many portals which are unique in their features
and the design of website. After analyzing the whole model of E-commerce, I found basically three
business Models have evolved over a period in this space and each has its own Pros & cons. Rest all
business models are mix and match of any of following 3 models. Keywords—Snapdeal model, E-
bay model, Flipkart model
Snapdeal Model
It is one of the first and largest online marketplaces in India. It has recently launched its best mobile
app for IOS. In this model, the Ecommerce player does not sell any goods/services on its own but
offers discount coupons which can be used by buyers to avail discount at the time of buying or
availing service from merchant.
Snapdeal is an e-commerce company based in India. It is a daily deals website that features discount
offers across lifestyle segments such as dining, health & beauty, entertainment, and travel. It also
offers discounts on products like electronics, perfumes, watches, and bags, sunglasses, coaching
classes, apparels, and mobile phones.
Headquartered in Delhi, Snapdeal.com was launched in February 2010. The company was founded
by Kunal Bahl, a Wharton graduate and Rohit Bansal, alumnus of IIT Delhi who were friends since
school.
Snapdeal.com serves as an advertising platform for merchants and a discount platform for
customers. For the merchants who collaborate with Snapdeal, it is a cost- effective channel for
acquiring new customers. It also works as a risk-free alternate marketing channel. From the
merchant’s standpoint, they are passing on the customer acquisition cost in the form of a discount
offer.
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Snapdeal (SD) gets the best offer possible from the merchants from around 65 cities across India
and then deducts a small amount of commission.SD aims at showing at least 4090% off in the deals
from what one must pay. Depending upon how good the offer is, SD deducts their commission
starting from Rs.99 going up to Rs.299.
For products, SD has a set of commissions. The most ideal amount of commission SD charges with
selling a product is 23%. More than 50-60 thousand products are available online for customers to
choose from.
In June 2010, Snapdeal.com acquired Bangalore-based group buying site, Grabbon.com for an
undisclosed amount. Snapdeal has been rated the #1 e-commerce site in India, in terms of traction by
Dataquest/Sapient E- commerce Survey 2011.
Snapdeal in tricity shoots out about 4 lakh promotional text messages and about 4-5 lakh emails,
including newsletters within a month. Headmasters, Tress Lounge, Manor, Lemon, J.W. Marriot, and
Rajdhani are some of the top clients for Snapdeal in the tricity with the most repetitive orders.
Flipkart Model
In this model, E-commerce player control end to end value chain i.e. right from procurement
to delivery is controlled by service provider.
Flip kart employs 4500+ people, 2 million sales unit and 4 million visitors/month.11.5 million
titles, Flipkart is India’s the largest online book retailer. Registered user base of 4 million customers
• Ships out as many as 45,000 items a day, clocking daily sales of approx. Rs2.5 cr. Flip kart is now
investing in expanding its network of distribution centers, warehouses, procurement operations which
is now in only 8 cities in country, to reach more & more Indian cities. The company is even setting
up its own delivery network which is now in 37 cities, by which company can save up cost associated
to the outsourced shipping & logistic function and is set to expand this even further by next year.
Study of the Consumer Behavior in India there is hesitancy in using an online portal for purchase
of goods because of various reasons. The most prominent of which is that an online payment gateway
is not user friendly. However, flipkart.com most outstanding feature is its COD or Cash on Delivery
pricing strategy, which gives the user the experience of online shopping and the security of physical
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shopping. Also, Flipkart.com has a 30-dayreplacement guarantee and an original product warranty,
which dispels all doubts from an online shopper’s mind.
Flipkart Success Factors the site is very easy to navigate, which helps users to easily search for the
contents or products online, it even allows users to search by using various filters like by price range,
search by brands, by age group, by hot-selling etc. If a certain product is not available or is out of
stock it even asks users to input its details & then when the products is available the desired users are
informed, this really helps one connected to the products they are seeking & leads to repeat & frequent
purchases. The Flipkart site is fast & powerful, i.e. if you Search any products in the Flipkart search
bar and you’ll find exactly what you are looking in likes no time & it’s very quick to process the
payments & transactions by every efficient & flexible.
Payment mechanisms of the portals. Approximately 60% of orders are placed in cash on
delivery system. So, there is high possibility scams & frauds, so users must have their email account
linked & with verified details & receives a confirmation code message on their cell phones or email,
after which the users confirm the unique code& the transaction is processed & usually get delivered
in 2-3 business days on the confirmed mailing address. Flipkart manages to deliver the item in 2-3
business days. If the order placed is not delivered in the specified time, immediate enquiry goes to
nearest supplier and the item becomes available. It will then be delivered within 24 hour depending
on the cause of delay. Flipkart is continuously aiming to bring down the delivery time of regular
orders, in doing so its investing in its own delivery system & network, As the time to delivery is one
of the important aspects of selling products online as users want a fast turnaround time, it’s an
excellent marketing strategy by Flipkart marketing team to increase the sales revenues & to optimize
the user shopping experience & increasing loyalty by repeat purchases. The portals offer a good
pricing offers & deals to its users by the means of cash rewards, loyalty points, discounts, coupons,
and frequent buyer rewards points. It even offers goods relatively cheaper pricing points than it is
available in the physical market which in total helps users save money & at the same time get
benefited by the means of rewards points.
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Conclusion
The Research provides information about an overall analysis of a leading ecommerce platform
in India and thereby examines their strategies with respect to E-business and marketing.
The Overall Brand Value of Flipkart is good, but it is facing some tough competition from its
global competitors like EBay and Amazon. But according to this research paper analysis if talking
about domestic market i.e. India, Flipkart is the most superior E-business portal which is aggressively
expanding & planting its roots deep into the Indian market& at the same time shifting the mindset of
the people i.e. from going & shopping from physical store to online stores, which is magnificent.
PRICING STRATEGIES
A pricing strategy considers segments, ability to pay, market conditions, competitor actions, trade
margins and input costs, amongst others. Definition: Price is the value that is put to a product or
service and is the result of a complex set of calculations, research and understanding and risk taking
ability.
One of the four major elements of the marketing mix are price. Pricing is an important
strategic issue because it is related to product positioning. Furthermore, pricing affects other
marketing mix elements such as product features, channel decisions, and promotion. Price is the one
element of the marketing mix that produces revenue; the other elements produce costs. Prices are
perhaps the easiest element of the marketing program to adjust; product features, channels, and even
promotion take more time. Price also communicates to the market the company's intended value
positioning of its product or brand. A well-designed and marketed product can command a price
premium and reap big profits.
A business can use a variety of pricing strategies when selling a product or service.
The price can be set to maximize profitability for each unit sold or from the market overall. It can be
used to defend an existing market from new entrants, to increase market share within a market or to
enter a new market.
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The proper pricing strategy for your ecommerce store should take these, along with the other
factors outlined below into consideration in order to generate maximum revenue
What Factors Should Determine Your Product Pricing?
Depending on what industry your store operates in, there are a number of different factors to
consider in pricing your products. Is a cheap price most important, or value? Your store’s USP will
determine whether your store is price/ discount-centric, or value-centric. There are numerous success
stories in either category, and of course there are many other strategies that you can use alongside
these.
Market-oriented pricing
If you are on the cusp of your first ecommerce adventure, the first thing to consider is whether
your USP is price or value related. This will determine how you view your competitor market, and
where you want to position your store in that ecosystem. And even if you are already in the game and
looking to assess your ecommerce store, it’s always a good idea to know where you stand alongside
competitors.
This is especially important if you are a retailer with non-proprietary products, meaning that
a designer or manufacturer sets the price of an item you sell, and limits how much of a profit margin
you can make.
Penetration Pricing:
Penetration pricing is another model that companies use to enter new markets, where they set
lower prices than their competitors to attract a market share, and then raise them slowly once they are
established. This method has its uses in certain industries, but can be alienating to customers who
care more about pricing than availability.
Consumer-oriented pricing
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Customer-oriented pricing takes a different approach, and can be characterized in several
ways. You should always consider your customers when determining what they will purchase at
different reference points, and when you segment them further into behavioral groups. For instance,
who are they? Why would they visit your store? What motivations do they have to buy your products?
Department stores like Selfridges know that their customers are looking for a tight edit of
products that will reflect their personal style and purchase power. This means that shoppers going to
department store sites are looking for duration and purchase guidance, which they are willing to pay
premium prices for.
The opposite is true for customers who scour the internet looking for price comparisons,
coupons, and sales. Some of these customers will be die-hard coupon-clippers who will happily
contribute data like an email address for further reductions. This group is a great segment to attract
because they are not loyal to one site, but may be a fan of a brand or designer. They also tend to make
great brand ambassadors, so allowing them to have discounts via email marketing can also generate
revenue in word-of-mouth and social media outreach.
Take-away
Whether you start with your competitors or your customers, the factors outlined above should
give you an idea of the different ways to become a data-driven and price-savvy business.
Performing a competitor analysis and segmenting your customers into behavioral groups will
allow you to see a broader picture of your merchandising and pricing. Analytics are key to processing
this kind of data and give you the metrics you need to focus on your business goals. For example,
cohort analyses are a great way to segment customers. It’s important to track how your segments
change over time as well, so putting in place the right tools to process and analyses data is imperative
for retailers in today’s ecommerce world.
Selling products online requires several different marketing strategies. One important point
that is often overlooked in online marketing is pricing strategy. While it may seem simple to set a
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price for an item, several consumer psychology factors come into play. The price point you set for
your item may even determine how successfully it sells.
Competitive Pricing
Paying attention to what your competitors charge for a similar product or service is vital in e-
business. It is all too easy for your customers to search and find a lower price. If you want to succeed,
you may need to undercut your competition, particularly at first, until you become more established.
While this may narrow your profit margin, you can often make up the difference by selling more than
you would have if your prices were higher.
Odd Numbers
Another common pricing strategy for e-business is using odd numbers in a price. For example,
instead of selling a product for $199, you would sell it for $197. This increases the perception of
saving for a customer. It's not quite $200, so in her mind, she is saving extra money. Most businesses
utilize even pricing schedules or drop off that extra dollar to bring it down under a set amount. By
taking it down a little further, you can entice more customers.
Quality and Value
While competitive pricing is important, it is also vital to make sure that the perceived value
of your product is not low. If you are offering too much for too little money, your customers may
perceive this as meaning that your product is not valuable. In their minds, if you aren't charging much
for it, it must not be worth much. While you do not want to fall into the trap of overpricing, set a price
that is a fair value for the information or product you have to offer, while not undercutting its
perceived value.
Bundling
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Many e-businesses have found success by bundling. Once again, this increases the perception
of value in the mind of the consumer. He's not getting just one product for $197; he's getting
something more. Pick related products to bundle with your larger-ticket item. For example, he can
get the main product for $197, but if he orders now, he can get an additional product for just $10
more. Make sure you state the actual value of the bundled item so that the consumer knows how much
money he is saving.
Motivation:
Developing strategy is one thing-managing the change process to embed that strategy in the
organization is quite another. The truth is that implementing effective pricing strategy involves
changing the expectations and behaviors of all the actors involved in the sales process. Customers
must learn that they will be treated fairly and that abusive purchase tactics will not be rewarded with
ad hoc discounts. Sales must learn that they will be rewarded for closing deals that increase firm
profitability rather than using price as a tactical lever to increase sales volume. Finance must learn to
look beyond cost as a determinant of price to better understand the tradeoffs between price, cost, and
market response. Financial incentives are, without question, one of the most powerful levers for
behavioral change among salespeople.
What a price should do:
A well-chosen price should do three things: Achieve the financial goals of the company (e.g.,
profitability) Fit the realities of the marketplace (Will customers buy at that price?)Support a product's
positioning and be consistent with the other variables in the marketing mix price is influenced by the
type of distribution channel used, the type of promotions used, and the quality of the product Price
will usually need to be relatively high if manufacturing is expensive, distribution is exclusive, and
the product is supported by extensive advertising and promotional campaigns A low price can be a
viable substitute for product quality, effective promotions, or an energetic selling effort by
distributors From the marketers point of view, an efficient price is a price that is very close to the
maximum that customers are prepared to pay. In economic terms, it is a price that shifts most of the
consumer surplus to the producer. A good pricing strategy would be the one which could balance
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between the price floor (the price below which the organization ends up in losses) and the price
ceiling (the price beyond which the organization experiences a no demand situation).
Understanding Pricing
Price is not just a number on a tag or an item: Price is all around us. You pay rent for your
apartment, tuition for your education, and a fee to your physician or dentist. The airline, railway, taxi,
and bus companies charge you a fare; the local utilities call their price a rate; and the local bank
charges you interest for the money you borrow. The price for driving your car on Florida's Sunshine
Parkway is a toll, and the company that insures your car charges you a premium. The guest lecturer
charges an honorarium to tell you about a government official who took a bribe to help a shady
character steal dues collected by a trade association. Clubs or societies to which you belong may
make a special assessment to pay unusual expenses. Your regular lawyer may ask for a retainer to
cover her services. The "price" of an executive is a salary, the price of a salesperson may be a
commission, and the price of a worker is a wage. Finally, although economists would disagree, many
of us feel that income taxes are the price we pay for the privilege of making money. Throughout most
of history, prices were set by negotiation between buyers and sellers. "Bargaining" is still a sport in
some areas. Setting one price for all buyers is a relatively modern idea that arose with the
development of large-scale retailing at the end of the nineteenth century. F. W. Woolworth, Tiffany
and Co., John Wanamaker, and others advertised a "strictly one-price policy," because they carried
so many items and supervised so many employees. Today the Internet is partially reversing the fixed
pricing trend.
Computer technology is making it easier for sellers to use software that monitors customers'
movements over the We band allows them to customize offers and prices. New software applications
are also allowing buyers to compare prices instantaneously through online robotic shoppers. As one
industry observer noted, "We are moving toward a very sophisticated economy. It's kind of an arms
race between merchant technology and consumer technology. Traditionally, price has operated as the
major determinant of buyer choice. This is still the case in poorer nations, among poorer groups, and
with commodity-type products. Although non-price factors have become more important in recent
decades, price remains one of the most important elements determining market share and
profitability. Consumers and purchasing agents have more access to price information and price
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discounters. Consumers put pressure on retailers to lower their prices. Retailers put pressure on
manufacturers to lower their prices. The result is a marketplace characterized by heavy discounting
and sales promotion.
How Companies Price:
Companies do their pricing in a variety of ways. In small companies, the boss often sets prices.
In large companies, pricing is handled by division and product-line managers. Even here, top
management sets general pricing objectives and policies and often approves the prices proposed by
lower levels of management. In industries where pricing is a key factor (aerospace, railroads, oil
companies), companies will often establish a pricing department to set or assist others in determining
appropriate prices. This department reports to the marketing department, finance department, or top
management. Others who exert an influence on pricing include sales managers, production managers,
finance managers, and accountants. Executives complain that pricing is a big headache and one that
is getting worse by the day. Many companies do not handle pricing well, and throw up their hands at
"strategies" like this: "We determine our costs and take our industry's traditional margins." Other
common mistakes are: Price is not revised often enough to capitalize on market changes; price is set
independently of the rest of the marketing mix rather than as an intrinsic element of market-
positioning strategy; and price is not varied enough for different product items, market segments,
distribution channels, and purchase occasions. Others have a different attitude: They use price as a
key strategic tool. These "power prices" have discovered the highly-leveraged effect of price on the
essential point.
They customize prices and offerings based on segment value and costs. The importance of
pricing for profitability was demonstrated in a 1992 study by McKinsey & Company. Examining
2,400 companies, McKinsey concluded that a 1 percent improvement in price created an
improvement in operating profit of 11.1 percent. By contrast, 1percent improvements in variable cost,
volume, and fixed cost produced profit improvements, respectively, of only 7.8 percent, 3.3 percent,
46
and 2.3 percent. Effectively designing and implementing pricing strategies requires a thorough
understanding of consumer pricing psychology and a systematic approach to setting, adapting and
changing prices. Price Supply Demand Quantity: Graph showing how the supply and demand for the
goods generally affects prices because there is a relationship between price and quantity demanded,
it is important to understand the impact of pricing on sales by estimating the demand curve for
the product. For existing products, experiments can be performed at prices above and below
the current price to determine the price elasticity of demand. Inelastic demand indicates that price
increases might be feasible.
CHAPTER 2
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
AND
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DATA COLLECTION
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A research design is the arrangement of condition for collection and analysis of the data in a
manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with the economy in procedure. In
fact, the research design is the conceptual structure with in which research is conducted, it constitutes
the blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data.
The research is a sample survey and the sampling size is 100 employees who are using flipkart and
Amazon.
RESEARCH METHODS
Descriptive method
This research is completely based on the description of the pricing strategies of Flipkart and Snap
deal. The study discusses about the various strategies adopted by both companies to gain competitive
advantage over others
TOOLS:
The tools used for analyzing data are rating method; graphs, pie charts etc. Questionnaire is
distributed to the individual respondents and special care has been taken to make him/her feel
48
comfortable so that, he/she could answer all the questions. This method is followed to get unbiased
answers.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The study is being conducted for the pricing strategies between Flipkart and Snap deal. The
study is being carried out in Bangalore to find out the pricing rivalry between Flipkart and Snap deal.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
 To study the pricing strategies adopted by Flipkart and Snap deal.

 To study the factors that is affecting the pricing strategies of the e commerce companies.
 To study the factors that satisfies the customers based on pricing methods adopted by the e
commerce companies.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
 The research is applicable in customer decision making process for purchasing of products
at Big Bazaar. The scope of research also helps in understanding the satisfaction of the
customers. It would help Big Bazaar in designing their marketing promoting sales.
METHODOLOGY & DATA COLLECTION
Research Methodology method is a way of doing something and methodology is a set of methods
used in an area of activity. Developing the problems and research objective developing the
information sources. Collecting and analyzing the information. Presenting the information.
Research Problem
A comparative study on pricing strategies of flip kart and Amazon
Research Design
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A research design is the arrangement of condition for collection and analysis of the data in a
manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with the economy in procedure. In
fact, the research design is the conceptual structure with in which research is conducted, it constitutes
the blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data
Sample Design and Size
The population of study is customers of flip kart and snapdeal. And the sample size of 100
consumers in the market. Sample method used convenience sampling.
Method of Data Collection
The sources of data include both Primary and Secondary data.
Primary data is collected with specific objective, especially to address the research problem.
The data is gathered by distributing a questionnaire to the customers who visit big bazaar and through
questioner.
Secondary data includes books, journals, magazines, newsletters of the big bazaar, and
internet.
Scaling Technique
Scaling Technique is used in this survey, for understanding the pricing strategies between
flipkart and snapdeal and the consumers’ reaction towards the pricing of both the e commerce
websites.
The scales which used in this survey are Nominal and Ordinal scales which gives information
about their taste and preferences towards online shopping and the prices involved in it.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
By these scales, we can study on the pricing strategies of both the e commerce. The data is
processed and analyzed by tabulation interpretation so that the findings can be communicated and
can be easily understood. The findings present in the best way. Tables and graphs are used for
understanding the pricing strategies between flipkart and snapdeal.
50
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
It is not possible for any market study to make it accurate due to many hurdles in the collection
and computation of data. Some limitations of the study are listed below
 The sampling frame to conduct the study has been restricted to Big Bazaar, court Road.
 Respondents show reluctance towards giving correct information.
 Findings of the study assume that respondents have disclosed in the questionnaire.
 Time was a major constraint.
 The sample was limited to only customers who have made a purchase at big bazaar.
51
CHAPTER 3
DATA ANALYSIS
DATA ANALYIS AND INTERPRETATION
The data collected from the questionnaire is tabulated and analyzed as follows.
Table 1 Age
Under 25 25-35 35-45 Above 45

68 12 5 5
52
AGE
80
68
70
60
50
40
30
20 15
12
10 5
0
under 25 25 - 35 35-45 45 & above
Interpretation:
Sixty-eight respondents are under the age of 25 years, twelve respondents are in the age group of 25
– 35 years, fifteen respondents in the age group of 35 – 45 years, five respondents are in the age group
of 45&above
Table 2 Gender
Male Female
62 38
53
gender
70
62
60
50
38
40
30
20
10
0
Male Female
Interpretation:
Sixty-two respondents are male and thirty-eight respondents are Fe-male
Table 3
3. Occupation:
Student Self employed professional Service House wife

41 14 15 18 12
54
Occupation
45 41
40
35
30
25
20 18
14 15
15 12
10
5
0
Student Self-employed Professional Service Housewife.
Interpretation:
Forty-one respondent’s occupation was student, fourteen respondent’s occupation was self-
employed, fifteen respondents occupation was professional, eighteen respondents occupation was
service, twelve respondents occupation was house wife.
Table 4
4. Marital status
Single Married
58 42
55
Marital status
70
58
60
50
42
40
30
20
10
0
Single Married
Interpretation:
Fifty-eight respondent’s marital status was single, forty-two respondents was married.
Table 5
5. Monthly income:
Below 10000 10000-20000 20000-40000 40000 above

41 14 15 30
56
Monthly income
45 41
40
35
30
30
25
20
14 15
15
10
5
0
Below 10000 Rs 10000-20000 Rs 20000-40000 Rs40000 & above
Interpretation:
Forty-one respondents have monthly income less than Rs.10000, fourteen respondents have monthly
income between Rs.100000 – 20000, fifteen respondents have monthly income between Rs.200000
– 40000, and thirty respondents have monthly income of more than Rs.40000 & above.
Table 6
6 How frequently do you shop in e-commerce sites?
Once in a week Once in 15 days Once in a month Once in 2-3 months
57
39 21 15 5
Frequently do you shop in e- commerce sites

45
39
40
35
30
25 21
20
15
15
10
5
5
0
Once in a Once in 15 days Once in a Once in 2-3 months
week month
Interpretation:
Thirty-nine respondents buy products in e – commerce sites once in a week, twenty-one

respondents buy products in e- commerce once in fifteen days, fifteen respondents buy products in e
– commerce once in a month, five respondents buy products in e – commerce once in two to three
months.
Table 7
6.Which products do you purchase more in e-commerce sites?
Groceries Electronic goods Apparels Others
58
18 42 35 5
Products you purchase in e - commerce sites

45 42
40
35
35
30
25
20 18
15
10
5
5
0
Groceries Electronic Goods Apparels Others
(specify)
Interpretation:
Eighteen respondents buy groceries in e – commerce sites, forty respondents buy electronic goods in e –
commerce sites, thirty-five respondents buy apparels in e – commerce sites, five respondents buy other
products
Table 8
7. Which source made you to buy products from flipkart?
news paper FM radio Friends Internet websites
59
39 21 30 10
Source made you to buy products in flipkart

45
39
40
35
30
30
25 21
20
15
10
10
5
0
News F.M radio Friends Internet websites
paper
Interpretation:
Thirty-nine respondents said newspaper is the source to buy products in flipkart, twenty one
respondents said F.M. Radio is the source to buy products in flipkart, thirty respondents said Friends
is the source to buy products in flipkart, ten respondents said internet websites is the source to buy
products in flipkart.
Table 9
8. Which source made you to buy products from snapdeal?
60
News paper FM radio friends Internet websites
39 21 30 10
Source made you to buy products from snapdeal

45
39
40
35
30
30
25 21
20
15
10
10
5
0
News paper F.M radio Friends Internet websites
Interpretation:
Thirty-nine respondents said newspaper is the source to buy products in snapdeal, twenty one
respondents said F.M. Radio is the source to buy products in snapdeal, thirty respondents said Friends
is the source to buy products in snapdeal, ten respondents said internet websites is the source to buy
products in snapdeal.
Table 10
9. Why do you make purchase of products in flipkart?
61
Low price Better quality Variety of Various brands Others (specify)
products
19 21 38 12 10
Purchase of products in flipkart

40 38
35
30
25
21
19
20
15 12
10
10
0
Low Better Quality Variety of Others (specify)
price products Various Brands
Interpretation:
Nineteen respondents said price is the reason to buy products from flipkart, twenty one
respondents said better quality is the reason to buy products from flipkart, thirty eight respondents
said variety of products is the reason to buy products from flipkart, twelve respondents said various
brands availability is the reason to buy products from flipkart, ten respondents said other reasons is
the reason to buy products from flipkart.
Table 11
10. Why do you make purchase of products in snapdeal?

62
Low price Better quality Variety of Various brands Others (specify)

products
19 21 38 12 10
Purchase of products in snapdeal

40 38
35
30
25
21
19
20
15 12
10
10
0
Low price Better Quality Variety of Others (specify)
products Various Brands
Interpretation:
Nineteen respondents said price is the reason to buy products from snapdeal, twenty-one respondents
said better quality is the reason to buy products from snapdeal, thirty eight respondents said variety
of products is the reason to buy products from snapdeal, twelve respondents said various brands
availability is the reason to buy products from snapdeal, ten respondents said other reasons is the
reason to buy products from snapdeal.
Table 12
11. Will flipkart remind their discounts & prices of various products to you?
63
Yes, clearly intimating No clarity intimating No intimation at all

67 12 21
Flipkart remainder about prices

80
70 67
60
50
40
30
21
20
12
10
0
YES cleanly NO clarity intimating NO intimation at
intimating all
Interpretation:
Sixty-seven respondents said flipkart reminds about price, twelve respondents said flipkart does not
reminds about price, twenty-one respondents are not in a position to respond for flipkart reminds about
price.
Table 13
12. Will snapdeal remind their discounts& prices of various products to you?
64
Yes, clearly intimating No clarity intimating No intimation at all

67 12 21
Snapdeal remainder about prices

80
70 67
60
50
40
30
21
20
12
10
0
YES cleanly intimating NO clarity intimating NO intimation at
all
Interpretation:
Sixty-seven respondents said snapdeal reminds about price, twelve respondents said snapdeal does not
reminds about price, twenty-one respondents are not in a position to respond for snapdeal reminds about
price.
Table 14
13. Rate the delivery service of flipkart?
65
Highly satisfied Satisfied Cannot say Dis satisfied Highly

dissatisfied
38 22 20 12 8
Delivery service of flipkart

40 38
35
30
25 22
20
20
15 12
10 8
0
Satisfied Cannot say Dis Highly
Highly satisfied satisfied dissatisfied
Interpretation:
Thirty-eight respondents are highly satisfied with delivery service of flipkart, twenty-two respondents
are satisfied with delivery service of flipkart, twenty respondents are not in a position to rate the
delivery service of flipkart, twelve respondents are dissatisfied with delivery service of flipkart, eight
respondents are highly dissatisfied with delivery service of flipkart.
Table 15
66
14. Rate the delivery service of snapdeal?

dissatisfied
38 22 20 12 8
Delievery service of snap deal

40 38
35
30 28
25
20
15 12 12
10
10
0
Highly satisfied Satisfied Cannot say Dis Highly
satisfied dissatisfied
Interpretation:
Thirty-eight respondents are highly satisfied with delivery service of snapdeal, twenty-two
respondents are satisfied with delivery service of snapdeal, twenty respondents are not in a position
to rate the delivery service of snapdeal, twelve respondents are dissatisfied with delivery service of a
snapdeal, eight respondents are highly dissatisfied with delivery service of snapdeal.
Table 16
67
15. Rate the overall shopping experience in flipkart?

dissatisfied
28 22 24 18 8
Overall shopping experience of flipkart

30 28
24
25
22
20 18
15
10 8
0
Satisfied Cannot say Dis Highly
Highly satisfied satisfied dissatisfied
Interpretation:
Twenty-eight respondents are highly satisfied with overall shopping experience of flipkart, twenty two
respondents are satisfied with overall shopping experience of flipkart, twenty four respondents are in
not in a position to rate the shopping experience in flipkart, eighteen respondents are dissatisfied with
the overall shopping experience of flipkart, eight respondents are highly dissatisfied with the overall
shopping experience of flipkart.
Table 17
68
16. Rate the overall shopping experience in snapdeal?

dissatisfied
28 22 24 18 8
Overall shopping experience in snapdeal

30 28
24
25
22
20 18
15
10 8
0
Highly satisfied Satisfied Cannot say Dis Highly
satisfied dissatisfied
Interpretation:
Twenty-eight respondents are highly satisfied with overall shopping experience of snapdeal, twenty two
respondents are satisfied with overall shopping experience of snapdeal, twenty four respondents are in
not in a position to rate the shopping experience in snapdeal, eighteen respondents are dissatisfied with
the overall shopping experience of snapdeal, eight respondents are highly dissatisfied with the overall
shopping experience of snapdeal.
Table 18
69
17. What is your interest behind the shopping in flipkart?
General interest Product interest Buying interest Information seeking

28 32 24 36
Interest behind shopping in flipkart

40
36
35 32
30 28
24
25
20
15
10
0
General Product interest Buying interest Information
interest seeking
Interpretation:
Twenty-eight respondents are shopping in flipkart because of their general interest, thirty-two
respondents are shopping in flipkart because of their interest in product available, twenty four
respondents are shopping in flipkart because of their buying interest, thirty six respondents are
shopping in flipkart for information about products.
70
Table 19
18. What is your interest behind the shopping in snapdeal?
General interest Product interest Buying interest Information seeking

28 32 24 36
Interest behind shopping in snapdeal

40 38
35 32
30
25
20
16
14
15
10
0
General Product interest Buying interest Information
interest seeking
Interpretation:
Thirty-eight respondents are shopping in snapdeal because of their general interest, thirty-two
respondents are shopping in snapdeal because of their interest in product available, fourteen
respondents are shopping in snapdeal because of their buying interest, and sixteen respondents are
shopping in snapdeal for information about products.
71
Table 20
Have you purchased any product at flipkart on your first visit?
Yes No
77 23
Flipkart frist visit purchase

90
80 77
70
60
50
40
30 23
20
10
0
Yes No
Interpretation:
Seventy-seven respondents purchase on their first visit to the site, twenty-three respondents
did not purchase any product on their first visit to the site.
72
Table 21
19. Have you purchased any product at snapdeal on your first visit?
Yes No
77 23
Snapdeal frist visit purchase

90
80 77
70
60
50
40
30 23
20
10
0
Yes No
Interpretation:
Sixty-eight respondents purchase on their first visit to the site, thirty-two respondents did not
purchase any product on their first visit to the site.
73
HYPOTHESIS TESTING
TEST FOR FLIPKART
LEVEL OF BELOW 10,000- 20,000- 40,000 TOTAL

SATISFACTION 10,000 20,000 40,000 &ABOVE
HS 19 5 6 8 38
S 8 3 3 8 22
CS 7 3 3 7 20
DS 4 2 2 4 12
HDS 3 1 1 3 8
TOTAL 41 14 15 30 100
H0 :µ=The delivery services of flipkart is good
H1: µ= The delivery services of flipkart is not good
fo Fe (fo-fe)2/fe
19 15.58 0.75
5 5.32 0.019
5.7 0.0167
8 11.4 1.014
8 9.02 0.115
3 3.08 0.0207
3 3.3 0.027
8 6.6 0.2969
7 8.2 0.1756
3 2.8 0.0142
3 3 0
7 6 0.1667
4 4.92 0.172
2 1.68 0.0609
2 1.8 0.0222
4 3.6 0.0444
3 3.28 0.0239
1 1.12 0.0128
1 1.2 0.0333
74
3 2.4 0.15
3.1353
 SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL= 0.05
 FORMULA FOR TEST= ∑(𝒇𝒐 − 𝒇𝒆)𝟐/𝒇𝒆 .
 𝒇𝒐=An observed value.
 𝒇𝒆=An expected value.
 ∑ = Sum of,
 Degree of freedom= (r-1)*(c-1) = (5-1)*(4-1) = 12
 Value of CHI-SQUARE DISTRIBUTION at 12 degree of freedom and significance level
of 0.05 is 21.026
 SAMPLE CHI-SQUARE value is ∑(𝒇𝒐 − 𝒇𝒆)𝟐/𝒇𝒆 =3.1353
 Based on values:
 Sample Chi-square value is less than chi square distribution with 16 degree of
freedom value.
 3.1353< 21.026
 So NULL HYPOTHESIS is ACCEPTED. It means

H0: µ= The delivery services of flipkart is good
75
TEST FOR SNAPDEAL
LEVEL OF BELOW 10,000- 20,000- 40,000 TOTAL

SATISFACTION 10,000 20,000 40,000 &ABOVE
HS 19 5 6 8 38
S 8 3 3 8 22
CS 7 3 3 7 20
DS 4 2 2 4 12
HDS 3 1 1 3 8
TOTAL 41 14 15 30 100
H0 :µ=The delivery services of snapdeal is good
H1: µ= The delivery services of snapdeal is not good
fo Fe (fo-fe)2/fe
19 15.58 0.75
5 5.32 0.019
6 5.7 0.0167
8 11.4 1.014
8 9.02 0.115
3 3.08 0.0207
3 3.3 0.027
8 6.6 0.2969
7 8.2 0.1756
3 2.8 0.0142
3 3 0
7 6 0.1667
4 4.92 0.172
2 1.68 0.0609
2 1.8 0.0222
76
4 3.6 0.0444
3 3.28 0.0239
1 1.12 0.0128
1 1.2 0.0333
3 2.4 0.15
3.1353
 SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL= 0.05
 FORMULA FOR TEST= ∑(𝒇𝒐 − 𝒇𝒆)𝟐/𝒇𝒆 .
 𝒇𝒐=An observed value.
 𝒇𝒆=An expected value.
 ∑ = Sum of,
 Degree of freedom= (r-1)*(c-1) = (5-1)*(4-1) = 12
 Value of CHI-SQUARE DISTRIBUTION at 12 degree of freedom and significance level
of 0.05 is 21.026
 SAMPLE CHI-SQUARE value is ∑(𝒇𝒐 − 𝒇𝒆)𝟐/𝒇𝒆 =3.1353
 Based on values:
 Sample Chi-square value is less than chi square distribution with 16 degree of
freedom value.
 3.1353< 21.026
 So, NULL HYPOTHESIS is ACCEPTED. It means

H0: µ= The delivery services of flipkart is good
77
CHAPTER 4
OBSERVATIONS
FINDINGS AND SUGGETIONS
78
Observations
 To study the pricing strategies adopted by Flipkart and Snap deal.

 To study the factors that is affecting the pricing strategies of the e commerce companies.
 To study the factors that satisfies the customers based on pricing methods adopted by the e
commerce companies.
Results:
 Majority of the respondents purchase on their first visit to the site; thirty-two respondents did
not purchase any product on their first visit to the site.
 Majority of the respondents purchase on their first visit to the site; twenty-three respondents
did not purchase any product on their first visit to the site.
 Majority of the respondents are shopping in snapdeal because of their general interest, thirty-
two respondents are shopping in snapdeal because of their interest in product available,
fourteen respondents are shopping in snapdeal because of their buying interest, sixteen
respondents are shopping in snapdeal for information about products.
 Majority of the respondents are shopping in flipkart because of their general interest, thrity two
respondents are shopping in flipkart because of their interest in product available, twenty-four
respondents are shopping in flipkart because of their buying interest, thrity six respondents are
shopping in flipkart for information about products.
 Majority of the respondents are highly satisfied with overall shopping experience of snapdeal,
twenty-two respondents are satisfied with overall shopping experience of snapdeal, twenty-
four respondents are in not in a position to rate the shopping experience in snapdeal, eighteen
79
respondents are dissatisfied with the overall shopping experience of snapdeal, eight
respondents are highly dissatisfied with the overall shopping experience of snapdeal.
 Majority of the respondents are highly satisfied with overall shopping experience of flipkart,
twenty-two respondents are satisfied with overall shopping experience of flipkart, twenty four
respondents are in not in a position to rate the shopping experience in flipkart, eighteen
respondents are dissatisfied with the overall shopping experience of flipkart, eight respondents
are highly dissatisfied with the overall shopping experience of flipkart.
 Majority of the respondents are highly satisfied with delivery service of snapdeal, twenty-two
respondents are satisfied with delivery service of snapdeal, twenty respondents are not able to
rate the delivery service of snapdeal, twelve respondents are dissatisfied with delivery service
of a snapdeal, eight respondents are highly dissatisfied with delivery service of snapdeal.
 Majority of the respondents said price is the reason to buy products from flipkart, twenty-one
respondents said better quality is the reason to buy products from flipkart, thirty-eight
respondents said variety of products is the reason to buy products from flipkart, twelve
respondents said various brands availability is the reason to buy products from flipkart, ten
respondents said other reasons is the reason to buy products from flipkart.
 Majority of the respondents said price is the reason to buy products from snapdeal, twenty-one
respondents said better quality is the reason to buy products from snapdeal, thirty-eight
respondents said variety of products is the reason to buy products from snapdeal, twelve
respondents said various brands availability is the reason to buy products from snapdeal, ten
respondents said other reasons is the reason to buy products from snapdeal.
 Majority of the respondents said flipkart reminds about price, twelve respondents said flipkart
does not reminds about price, twenty-one respondents are not in a position to respond for
flipkart reminds about price.
 Majority of the respondents said snapdeal reminds about price, twelve respondents said
snapdeal does not reminds about price, twenty-one respondents are not able to respond for
snapdeal reminds about price.
 Majority of the respondents are highly satisfied with delivery service of flipkart, twenty-two
respondents are satisfied with delivery service of flipkart, twenty respondents are not able to
80
rate the delivery service of flipkart, twelve respondents are dissatisfied with delivery service
of flipkart, eight respondents are highly dissatisfied with delivery service of flipkart.
FINDINGS
 Flipkart being one of the oldest and most recognized e-commerce company in India has
been leading; Snapdeal started with deals, but quickly shifted to products and has been
growing rapidly
 The battle has been already tough and with snapdeal getting a fresh Round of Funding worth
$134 Million, the race for e-Commerce in India is becoming a 3-way battle of price, service
and delivery timelines
 Flipkart has attracted people with affordable prices but snapdeal being new to the flied is
attracting only few customers.
 Flipkart has positioned itself as online space for genuine products but snapdeal has not
positioned in any manner.
 Flipkart is at top of mind of consumers whenever the consumer comes to online shopping
because of unique and content advertising but snapdeal failed to create such awareness in
consumer mind.
 Flipkart is making appropriate delivery which is prior to the mentioned date but snapdeal is
making delivery at specified date.
 Flipkart has a wide variety of products which is absent in the case of snapdeal.
 Flipkart uses promotional activities at wide scale in regular time period but snapdeal rarely
do the promotional activities.
81
SUGGESTIONS
 There is a fluctuation in every aspect of comparison by this we can make a inference that e-
commerce is dynamic field where consumers are not loyal to any brand or site but they are price
conscious where ever they find the price is low they are choosing to shop in that store.
 Most of the respondents are in the age group of under 25 years so marketers should focus more
on this specific age group for profit generation.
 Companies should promote through newspapers and should build strong referral program for
consumers so the word of mouth penetrated well in the market.
 Many of the customers are not getting time to shop in traditional stores so they are opting to
purchase goods from e- commerce sites so the potential for the market is high so players should
not stop their business as they face losses.
 India is a developing country and the government rules and regulations are favorable to foreign
companies for the investment so we can see lots of changes in the e- commerce companies
82
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
83
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION:
 Frist visit purchase, interest behind shopping, shopping experience, delivery process, remainder
about prices, purchase behavior are the factors taken for comparison between snap deal and
flipkart.
 Most of the respondents are willing to shop in flipkart because of low price and quick delivery.
84
CHAPTER 6
BIBLIOGRAPHY
85
BIBLOGRAPHY
 Philip Kotler Marketing Management., Pearson Publishers, 14th edition, 2015.

 Prof.M.V. Kulkarni Research Methodology
 Leon G Schiffman consumer behavior
 S A Chunawalla product management
References
86
 http://www.snapdeal.com
 www.flipkart.com/
 www.digit.in/...e-commerce/top-50-e-commerce-websites-in-india.html/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce_in_India/
 www.ecommercefuel.com/ecommerce-pricing-strategy/
 https://www.quora.com/Who-wins-Indian-e-commerce-Flipkart-or-Snapdeal/
[1] http://www.nitinbhatia.in/marketing-casestudy/the- future-of-e-commerce-in India/
[2]http://www.slideshare.net/ifourvineela/comparative-study-of-indianecommerceportals-
flipkart-snapdeal-and-shopclues
[3]http://www.slideshare.net/probikersagar/study-of-flipkartcom-indias-leadingebusiness-
portal? related=2
[4] http://www.willharris.com/design/ebay.html
[5] http://yourhttp://yourstory.com/2014/04 /flipkart-snapdeal-worried-global-retail
[6] http://www.slideshare.net/abhishek_g/ snapdeal? Related=2
87
APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name:
1. Age:
a. Under 25 [] b. 25-3[]
c. 35-4 [] d. 45 & above []
2. Sex:
a. Male [] b. Female []
3. Occupation:
a. Student b. Self-employed
c. Professional d. Service
e. Housewife.
4. Marital status:
88
a. Single married
5. Monthly income:
a. Below 10000 b.10000-20000
c.20000-40000 d.40000 & above
6 How frequently do you shop in e-commerce sites?
a. Once in a week b. Once in 15 days
c. Once in a month d. Once in 2-3 months
7. Which products do you purchase more in e-commerce sites?
Groceries Electronic Goods
Apparels Others (specify)
8. Which source made you to buy products from flipkart?
Newspaper F.M radio
Friends Internet websites
9. Which source made you to buy products from snapdeal?
Newspaper F.M radio
Friends Internet website
10. Why do you make purchase of products in flipkart?
89
Low price Better Quality Variety of products
Various Brands others (specify)
11. Why do you make purchase of products in snapdeal?
Low price Better Quality Variety of products
Various Brands others (specify)
12. Will flipkart remind their discounts& prices of various products to you?
YES, cleanly intimating NO clarity intimating
NO intimation at all
13. Will snapdeal remind their discounts& prices of various products to you?
YES, cleanly intimating NO clarity intimating
NO intimation at all
14. Rate the delivery service of flipkart?
Highly satisfied Cannot say
Dis satisfied highly dissatisfied
15. Rate the delivery service of snapdeal?
Highly satisfied Satisfied Cannot say
16. Rate the overall shopping experience in flipkart?
90
17. Rate the overall shopping experience in snapdeal?
18. What is your interest behind the shopping in flipkart?
General interest product interest buying interest
Information seeking
19. What is your interest behind the shopping in snapdeal?
General interest product interest buying interest
Information seeking
20. Have you purchased any product at flipkart on your first visit?
Yes no not first time
21. Have you purchased any product at snapdeal on your first visit?
Yes no not first time
Thank you
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
91

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A comparative study on pricing strategies of Flipkart and Snapdeal

1.1.Introduction and Brief history of snap deal……………………………………….8-17

1.2. Introduction and Brief history of flip kart……………………………………….18-40

2. Methodology and Data Collection……….…………………………............................51-54

2.1 Research Methodology……………………………………………………………51-52

3.1 Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………...56-76

INTRODUCTION ABOUT FLIPKART AND SNAPDEAL

Parent Company Jasper InfoTech

Category Website-online advertising and discount on goods

Sector IT and Technology

Tagline/ Slogan Super Deals

Segment Internet users

Positioning Positioned as best advertising and discount platform in the market

1. Constant innovations and good branding

3. Excellent service through convenient processes

4. Wide range of deals and transactions to choose from

1.Services not available in all cities

Weaknesses 2.Dependence on internet only

1. The markets devoid of internet

1. Can be subjected to frauds

Awards and recognition:

• The demand for the product

• The market for the product in the future

• Competitive products in the market

• Adaptability of the product to the changing environment

• Factors affecting the demand for the product

• Branding and packaging of the product

• Goal achieved through selling the product

• Cost of the product

• The value of the product or service to the consumer

• Price sensitivity of the product

• Prices of competitors’ products

• Discounts and incentives that can be offered

• Tradeoffs for the consumer

• The location of the store, in case a physical store is required

• The feasibility of online presence of the product

• Requirement of a sales force

• Distribution channels followed by competitors and scope for differentiation

• Knowledge of the target audience

• Mediums to gain access to the target audience

• Time of promotion to get full attention of the target customers

• Use of internet, social media to increase visibility of the product or service

• Timing of subsequent promotions

• Ways of increasing brand awareness

• Handling promotion at the point of sales

• Promotional strategy of competitor

Graduated from IIT Delhi with a degree in Computer Science.

Great customer service:

Future Road Map

They aim at 10 times growth and eyes at $ 1Billion sales by 2015.

Place in the Marketing mix of Flipkart

Price in the Marketing mix of Flipkart

Promotions in the Marketing mix of Flipkart

1. Supply Chain (procurement and shipping):

2. Manpower and time spent on each order:

Awards and recognition:

Strengths in the SWOT analysis of Flipkart

1. India’s Largest E-commerce Retailer:

4. High Brand recall:

5. Own Payment gateway & Logistic arm:

6. Exclusive & broad range of products:

Weaknesses in the SWOT analysis of Flipkart

1. Limited Distribution channel reach: