CASE STUDY ON FLIPKART ABSTRACT

Innovation
brings with itself a new set of challenges. The E-Retailing form of market was
fairly
something unheard of to the Indian consumer in 2007. Flipkart which has carved a
niche for itself in terms of
market share, goodwill and popularity in the online market to the extent that
retailers are coming under threat
because of its discounts and smooth operations. The ascent of Flipkart to capture
the online market in India in
just four years,the strategies implemented by it to create online business ,its
ability to stand out among
numerous E-Retail sites. This case study aims to understand the marketing
strategy ,brand awareness, SWOT
analysis ,functioning of Flipkart. It aims to predict the future roadmap and also
aims to find significant threats to Flipkart in the near future.
INTRODUCTION
Flipkart an e-Commerce company founded in the year 2007, by Mr. Sachin Bansal and
Binny
Bansalboth alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. They had been
working for
Amazon.com previously. It operates exclusively in India, where it is headquartered
in Bangalore,
Karnataka. It is registered in Singapore, and owned by a Singapore based holding
company. Started
with an initial capital of four lakhs it now aims for annual turnover of around
Rs.4500 crores.
Flipkart has launched its own product range under the name “DigiFlip”, Flipkart
also recently
launched its own range of personal healthcare and home appliances under the brand
“Citron”. During
its initial years, Flipkart focused only on books, and soon as it expanded, it
started offering other
products like electronic goods, air conditioners, air coolers, stationery supplies
and life style products
and e-books
HISTORY AND GROWTH OF FLIPKART
Flipkart is not an Indian company since it is registered in Singapore and majority
of its shareholders are foreigners. Because foreign companies are not allowed to do
multi-brand e-retailing in India, Flipkart sells goods in India through a company
called WS Retail. Other third-party sellers or companies can also sell goods
through the Flipkart platform. Flipkart now employs more than 15000 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.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRANSFORMATIONS IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Flipkart is presently one of the largest online retailers in India, present across
more than 14 product categories & with a reach in around 150 cities. Flipkart is
currently a 10,000 member strong team, with 3000 sellers on its platform and
delivering 5 million shipments per month. Flipkart’s ‘Big Billion Day’ sale helped
the company to achieve record single day sales of Rs. 600 Crores on Monday It made
its presence felt in online retailing by offering path breaking services like Cash
on Delivery (COD), 30 Day replacement Guarantee, EMI options, Flipkart mobile app ,
etc.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective is not just those who shop online .They want to highlight the
convenience of e- commerce to traditional offline shoppers and thus help grow the
market.
2. Their main aim is diversity products portfolio into home appliances,
electronics, etc 3. The main target is stronger supply chain and aggressive
acquisitions.
4. The main target in 2020 is entering global market.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Secondary data which have already been collected and analyzed by researchers. In
this Case study information are taken from various sources like journals,
newspapers, internet, books, etc.
MARKETING STRATEGY
Flipkart as been mostly marketed by word of mouth. Customer satisfaction has been
their best market medium. Flipkart very wisely used SEO (Search Engine
Optimization)& Google Ad-words as the marketing tools to have a far reach in the
online world. All in all to create a great customer experience. Kids were used to
create the adverts to send out the message -if a kid can do it, we can also do it.
BRAND AWARENESS
Brand Awareness are key success factor in the market. Flipkart is the industry
leading with 80% market share having a very high Brand Awareness and lowest price.
BRAND LOYALTY
Excellent user experience on the e-commerce website in term of usability speed
clarity will enhance the loyalty of existing customer and move a step a head of
brand awareness towards customer retention.
Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat (SWOT) Analysis
S Stands For Strengths ( Internal Factor )

India’s Largest E-Com Retailer: Flipkart is India’s largest e-commerce company and

has achieved a GMV (gross sales value) of $1 billion so far.
Promoters: Flipkart’s founders, Sachin & Binny Bansal, are ex-Amazon employees.
Their experience in the e-commerce industry has helped the founders work
strategically and differentiate their company in a highly competitive market.
Acquisitions: with a series of acquisitions like Letsbuy.co, chakpak.com,
weread.com, Mine360 and the recent acquisition of Myntra, the company has been able
to expand into e-commerce space and leverage the capabilities and existing
resources of the acquired companies.
High brand recall: Flipkart has established itself as a renowned e-commerce company
in India through TV advertisements, online branding and its social media presence.
Brand activities like ‘Big Billion Day’ have significantly increased the brand
recall of the company.
Own payment gateway and logistics arm: The company’s logistics arm E-kart and
payment service provider Payzippy have helped the company control its expenses. As
a result, the benefits are passed on to the end customers.
Exclusive & wide product range: Exclusive rights to launch some products like
Google Pixels, Google Buds, and other personal designer segments in the apparel
category have helped the company to differentiate and localize its offering.
Market Share & Financials: Flipkart has a market share of 39.5% & Flipkart has an
annual revenue of US $6.1 billion.
Strong Promoter: Flipkart holds a 77% stake in Wal-Mart, a global retail giant. Its
previous experience in the e-commerce industry helped the founders strategize and
differentiate their company in a highly competitive market.
W Stands For Weaknesses ( Internal Factor )
Limited Distribution: Flipkart has limited channel reach, though the logistics
department has kept costs low. This is a weakness of the company as it has limited
reach. Global giants like Amazon and eBay can deliver their products to any part of
the country thanks to outsourcing. Flipkart, on the other hand, is still struggling
in this area.
Cost of Acquisition: Since Flipkart acquires a large number of customers through
online advertising, the cost of acquisition is high due to stiff competition in the
market and low customer retention. According to Flipkart, the company spends an
average of Rs. 400 to acquire a new customer.
Buyers have the power: Since there are a large number of players in this industry,
buyers have a large number of options to choose from. Shoppers save money on
switching costs as they can easily switch from one online retailer to another. The
same products are offered on multiple online retail websites. There is virtually no
product differentiation, so the battle is solely on price.
O Stands For Opportunities ( External Factor )
Business Expansion: by focusing on other emerging markets, a company can increase
revenue while benefiting from economies of scale.
Increase In Category: This increases the customer base while decreasing the cost of
customer acquisition and switching.
Change in Interest: As more and more customers are getting comfortable with online
shopping and the number of internet users in India is increasing, there are huge
opportunities in this industry.
Supply Chain System: by optimising their supply chain, they can compete with the
other players and manage the loss of sales due to the product not being available
due to supply shortages.
Global Markets: Similar to Amazon, Flipkart can gradually start expanding its
business outside India and do business in other countries as well, which will help
in growing its revenue.
T Stands For Threats ( External Factor )
Intense competition: There is fierce competition between global players like Amazon
and eBay and local players like Snapdeal, Tolexo and Shopclues who are constantly
trying to take market share from each other.
Government regulations: Government regulations on issues such as foreign direct
investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail have significantly hampered the growth of
the e-commerce industry in India.
FLIPKART’S SUCCESS MANTRA
1. Flipkart users are most satisfied than that of their competitors great customer
service has been its hallmark. The user interface is sleek and easy to use.
2. Cash on delivery creates trust in the mind of Indian customers who are always
have feared of making payments online. Flip kart focuses on providing the relevant
information possible into every single page.
FUTURE ROAD MAP
Everything except for groceries and automobiles will be available on flip kart in
future. They will look at bigger investments in their supply chain. To enter into
various new categories and expand the categories also
Flipkart Affiliate Marketing Commission
Below we are mentioning a few product categories and their commission percentages:
Books and e-learning (10%)
Gold and silver coins (0.1%)
School supplies and toys (10%)
Baby care products (10%)
Fragrances and Beauty products (10%)
Household supplies (10%)
CONCLUSION
Every time they require to update their Internal Structure Systems and Innovative
Management System with sound database to provide end-to-end connectivity across all
the different processes to reach out its suppliers, partners and customers
effectively. Online retail industry in India pegged to reach $1.5 billion 2015 so
suggest that e-commerce is just hotting up in India. We may soon see many more
internet companies achieving similar success.