Flipkart.com Review

The Internet is a wonderful thing, a boon if I may say so. Not only is it a treasure trove of virtually everything you could want, or hope, be it knowledge, keeping in contact with distant relative or even business. Speaking of which, there are many entrepreneurs who have made quite a mark on the economic scene, using the Internet. The best part of these is that they don't need huge investment, only a bright idea, and some way to attract customer.

Such was the story of Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, two IIT graduates, who, along with a workforce of five people, started Flipkart.com, an online book-store in India back in 2007. And within 4 years, they are now selling Mobiles, Movies, Music, Games, Cameras, Computers, along with Books. Such an achievement makes one wonder how they accomplished so much?

I, too, was intrigued by such a question and so decided to have a peek at the website. I was also in need of two books and a game. (Here, I would like to mention, that I have dealt with both online retailers like NextWorld.in, as well as over the phone ordering from directly the publishers. Since my first online purchase, I was hooked to it, so now I prefer online purchase over everything else. Not only does it save some amount of cost, but also saves a lot of time and guess work.) As soon as I opened some of the deals, I knew, this would be the site that I'll be shopping the most from in the future. Not only are the discount out-of-this-universe, but the variety of items available are staggering. For example, this is the only online site in India that I have seen so far that stocks Manga! Plus there are some books that are not readily available in the Indian market, like works of writers like Drew Karpashyn, Mel Odom etc. And best of all, this site offers free shipping anywhere in India, on purchase of, drum rolls please, Rs. 100 or above! That's virtually free shipping for all of the item you can buy. Add to these, the option of Cash On Delivery on almost all the items, no matter where you are located, and you have an absolutely irresistible online shopping site.
But all these things can't make a business shine, if their customer support or after sales isn't upto the mark. And this is one of Flipkart's strongest point. They have a customer care helpline 24X7 in addition to the now standard e-mail care. Writing to them about a query, I got a prompt reply within the next day, with each and every question answered individually. I don't like spamming, so if I have multiple question, I generally write them down in a single mail in a list. But most of the CC used to answer just one of the question, and I have to follow up with my other question individually. But Flipkart's different, they answered every single question of mine, separated into different paragraphs.
Apart from these they have a Facebook page, a standard, an active Blog and Twitter feed too. I mention these because, for a business that employs technology, I think it is essential, they know the technology and use it properly. These active Blog and twitter, indicates how much aware they are. The style of blog is very friendly, it's not that they are looking down at you, they are beside you, inviting the customers to help improve them. These friendly gestures are even more evident in the Careers section. There's even a video of them during there office time.

But I've talked too much about them, so let's see how is there service. Like I said before, I was looking for two books and a game. I found that both of the books were listed as available and to be delivered in 3 days, along with a good discount. The same was for the game too, Tom Clancy's HAWX 2, but with a delivery of 5 days. Being an online seller, we need an account, which is one of the most simplest account creation I've seem so far, fill up only 3 fields and you're good to go. After the sign-up you can optionally go into the accounts settings, and create multiple address, as well as fill up some of your personal details. As for the purchase, you just need to sign-in (if you haven't already done so), select the items and add them to your cart, pretty standard fare. After you're done, you can proceed to checkout, which is a really pretty interface with side-tab navigation. From here you can choose a delivery address, along with a delivery update phone number. After which the address will show up on your right side of the page. After this, you need to
chose your payment option, after which you just need to fill up the necessary details and voila, you're done! They'll even send you an SMS and an e-mail regarding your orders. Plus your account will be updated with the order details, along with the expected delivery dates.
The very next day after I placed my order, my first book arrived, with the rest of my order following the next day. The order that was supposed to reach me after 3 days, was shipped in just 2 days! The packaging of the orders were great too. Instead of a box, which all the other sellers use, they put the items in Folder like piece of carton, with packing tapes generously applied. Many might not agree with me, but I find this arrangement better than the Carton Box. Instead of yanking out the item, I can gently lift it up. The item itself is packed in a layer of plastic, like those covering new books, and beneath the item, you'll find a receipt. This is the only online seller that I have found sends the Invoice along with the order. The books also had a bookmark with clever quotes, a thoughtful addition that could easily be skipped, with all those discount and the free shipping. The DVD that came to me was wrapped in a sheet of bubble-wrap with lots of tape inside the standard Carton sheet. All of the items were in excellent condition as if freshly off-the-store-shelf.
Over all, it was pleasure to shop at Flipkart.com, and I will absolutely recommend to anyone whose looking for an online shop with good option, as well as to those who are looking for their first online purchase.