India, is one of the developing country which has fastest growing economy in the world because since the beginning people always strived to make and adopt newest futuristic technologies wherever available either it’s internet or nuclear power thanks to visionary entrepreneurs and companies with scientists who always worked hard to make India most powerful and advanced country to stay up to date and become strong super power globally.
Even though, new technologies like computers for instance entered in india bit late when compared with other developed countries but once any revolutionary and potential technology enter in india it will be utilised to maximum as there is large huge population with big percentage of young millennials and Gen-z even though they may not always get instant success.
K. Vaitheeswaran, in year 1999 made india’s first online shopping website named fabmart.com that was not available now but back in time most people in india are not aware of online shopping platforms so they didn’t got much attention especially from india rural areas as over there usage of internet and computers is very low and they are mostly available in urban areas.
Online shopping websites are digital platforms created by individuals or companies available on world wide web of internet which you can access through your computer or smartphone with compatible browser where you can buy numerous category products and get them to your specified address like home or office etc at your convenience time.
People in india like almost all countries for centuries physically went to number of retail stores to get products as time goes every street in india now has one or more small or big retail stores but alot of retail stores especially electronic ones from big big companies usually don’t setup in every place instead they choose best areas in popular places then buy sufficient land and construct big retail stores after that they’ll hire alot of employees of different fields to take care and run it well that can cost billons of dollors when business is available worldwide.
Big retail stores in india are available at nearest location in urban areas but in rural areas people still have to go far distances to get products from retail stores even in urban areas of india due to on growing busy life style of modern era people unable to spare time to physically go to retail stores and buy products as it takes time when list is long including that most retail stores don’t have home delivery so you have export on your own which is one or the main reason people in india shifting to online shopping platforms.
However, online shopping platforms does have some drawbacks like they take atleast 1 day even weeks based on seller to deliver product even though they can speed up delivery with paid subscriptions yet if your have short list and want to save time then it’s better to complete shopping in retail stores but if you can’t arrange it then going on with online shopping platforms is definitely right choice.
There are millons of online shopping platforms created by many indian individuals and companies to sell thier products out of them Flipkart is most popular one founded by Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal on October, 2007 started as online book store where people can buy or sell old and new books but later on they provided an option and facilities for anyone in india to become Flipkat verified seller and sell more category products same as Amazon inc.
Flipkart launched in india way before America online shopping platform Amazon Inc. and they’re are first to introduce COD – cash on delivery option in india as people used to not believe and trust in online shopping platforms but once COD came into existence alot of people in india started buying from Flipkart as they are able to get and check products in real.
However, even after cash on delivery Flipkart faced alot of problems like few people complained that they got rocks and mangoes in place of products and delivery persons crime to customers etc that type of incidents effected Flipkart badly but thankfully they’re are able to recover and get back to online shopping business to compete with Amazon.
Amazon inc. launched in india after 6 years of Flipkart and enabled COD – cash on delivery lately still eventually become biggest competitor to Flipkart but actually most modern online shopping are inspired by online shopping platforms for example : Flipkart like Amazon instead of depending on couriers they rented and setup many own warehouses at several best locations in city or state of country due to that they are able to spend less money then retail stores and reach customers quickly.
In year 2014, many china mobile companies entered in india and partnered with existing online shopping platforms mostly Flipkart and Amazon to sell low price online exclusive value for money smartphones including that Flipkart and Amazon also started providing big offers at various occasions like Amazon with great indian festival and Flipkart with big billon days that bring alot of attention from indian people and driven them towards Flipkart and Amazon.
Generally, retail stores has direct connections with companies thus they’re able to get products at less price due to that they sell products with exciting offers at very low price that may get them losses yet it will make new people as customers even though it’s bit risk but they’ll cover up losses in future and now almost all online online shopping platforms go in footsteps of retail stores from past few decades.
Especially, Big billon days of Flipkart are super awesome as people able to buy expensive products at very low price like you can buy 10,000 INR smartphone at 100 INR but it is hard and you have to be very lucky to get products from Flipkart big billon days as they usually get selled out in seconds yet alot of people got products so online shopping platforms complained on Flipkart later on as there is no option they stopped giving such big deals and still continuing big billon days.
In sense, online shopping platforms got alot customers since year 2014 due to that Flipkart increased warehouses and vehicles, hired alot of delivery persons, partnered with more third party couriers, and restructured routes around india to deliver products fastly to customers in time, in addition Flipkart simultaneously made and executed new and improved market strategies to attract more people towards Flipkart that also worked out well.
Fortunately, Flipkart over the years able to get and secure huge investments from foriegn companies like Alibaba inc. and also when a product was buyed on Flipkart it will pay total price with taxes to seller but on top some percentage of handling and service with delivery fee is charged based on product and time to run Flipkart operations and it’s third party couriers profitably.
But, after year 2014 in the peak of it’s rise Flipkart got downfall because of poor decisions from founders like Flipkart started as website and most people used it to order products but one of the founder decided to close down Flipkart website and make it completely available only app that decision is not supported by investors but still went through due to that Flipkart loose large percentage of users.
Meanwhile, Amazon continued both it’s website and apps not just in india but also every where due to that alot of people who used to buy from Flipkart website shifted to Amazon just because it has website including that Amazon started providing amazing offers with many smartphone partnerships that are liked by people so alot of customers shifted to Amazon leaving Flipkart and other online shopping platforms like Snapdeal which was also acquired by Flipkart but failed eventually.
Anyhow, Flipkart faced alot of set backs and got huge losses so mainly from year 2018 thus they struggled to compete with Amazon so to keep Flipkart running they decided to sell it and then Walmart well known popular American retail store company who always wanted to enter in online business acquired 77% stake in Flipkart for $16 billon since then Flipkart is in hands of Walmart.
Walmart made many changes and revived Flipkart website with PWA – progressive web app including that they partnered with alot of cool brands and added new features thus they are able to kickstart Flipkart again and reduced the percentage of losses to big extend then streamlined it to get profits but sill most people got used to Amazon yet Flipkart is in top india’s online shopping platforms.
In fact Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart is now constantly competing each other and they both ship products to more then 200+ countries but still Amazon has upperhand as it is in online business since year 1995 and ventured into many subsidiaries and they are all well established and sucessfull all over the world while Flipkart only has one online shopping platform that was mostly concentrated in India.
Anyway, Flipkart is gradually picking up it’s lost market thanks to Walmart who has decades expertise to run profitable business so there is high possibility if Flipkart go in same pace with time to time regular improvements accordingly then very likely they may soon able to dodge Amazon online shopping platform dominance in india near future.
Finally, this is how Flipkart failed and then revived by Walmart in india, are you an existing user of Flipkart? If yes do say your experience and mention which online shopping platform you like the most is it Flipkart or Amazon in our comment section below, see ya 🙂