What makes Flipkart a super successful ecommerce portal?

• Customer Service

They always strove to provide great customer service. Flipkart customers are happier than with some of their competitors like Tradus.in, Indiaplaza.com.  The  founders'  passion  for  the consumer  Internet  space  manifests  itself  in  the  brand,  which  is  synonymous  with  customer service  and  satisfaction.  „Don't count your customers before they smile’ is the company’s operating mantra.

• First Mover Advantage

Flipkart still enjoys the top-of-the-mind brand recall as far as buying books is concerned. Other

portals  such  as  Uread  and  Dial-a-Book  are  still  struggling  to  register  their  brands  into  the consumer‟s mind. Over the years, Flipkart has diversified quickly; they now sell electronics to mobiles to home appliances.

• Cash on Delivery

One area where Flipkart has scored strong is reading the virtual Indian consumer mind. Though

the  e-commerce  user  has matured,  a  large  segment  is  still  hesitant  to make  transactions  using credit/debit card. The cash-on-delivery model has undoubtedly got them with going with the web conservatives.

• Well-Marketed

It  initially  started with word  of mouth  and  social media,  and  the Bansals  have  carried  on  the momentum  well.  Apart from investing in technical, operational and logistical capabilities, Flipkart, like any other strong brand, have invested a lion’s share in advertising, thus giving the brand a significant visibility. Today, Facebook likes stand close to 1 million.

• Easy to Buy

Again, Flipkart has understood the factors that dissuade an online user in India, by allowing them to buy products without registering. Alternatively, there’s Facebook and Twitter sign-in. This makes its user to buy a product without registering and remembering another online password. Moreover, one get a 15-20% discount on every book purchase and free shipping for every order of more than Rs.  200.  I  can  tell  from my  own  experience  that  the  delivery  is  superfast  if  the product is in stock.

• E-commerce in the DNA

A critical factor in Flipkart‟s success, especially during the initial years, is that the founders are ex-Amazon employees, hence bringing in the required expertise and skillset needed to run and grow an ecommerce portal.  Sure  they  possess  great  entrepreneurial  skills  too,  which  when blended with vertical knowledge, has spun great success for the 5 year old Flipkart.

• Customer Retention Rate

Flipkart's  reason  of  success  is  that  it  has  a  great  customer  retention  rate,  it  has  around  15  lac individual customers and more  than 70% customers are repeat customers  i.e.  They shop various times each year.  Acquisition  of  customers  can  cost  five  times  more  than  retaining  current customers. The company targets to have a customer base of 1 crore by 2015.