Flipkart : The book store at your door

Flipkart is an Indian online bookstore modeled around Amazon . The site was started by two IIT graduates Mr Binny Bansal and Mr Sachin Bansal. The site became operational in 2007. Within a short span of time, Flipkart has created a lot of buzz among the book lovers.

I am a book lover and my job as an academician demands that I read a lot of books. I came to know about flipkart quite accidentally. I used to buy books from another famous e-commerce site where I was a loyal customer with a gold level book club membership.

Marketers know that it is very difficult to poach loyal customers from a competitor. Lot of factors cause customers to stick to a familiar brand. Inertia, trust , averse to risk are some of the factors that prompt customers to stick with their old way of doing things. I was also of that type.

One friend suggested me to check out flipkart and and when I did, it split my loyalty instantly. One of the main USP of flipkart is the ease of use. Unlike other e-commerce site, flipkart is very very easy to use. Searching books was very easy and the site was also minimalistic. During that time, my earlier bookstore revamped its interface and it became very difficult to search books in that site which prompted me to look for alternatives. The simple interface of flipkart and their fast delivery also inspired my colleague ( who is a voracious reader) to switch to this site.

In services marketing theory , often we teach that " high level of performance " is an attribute that can cause delight in customers. Flipkart is an example of a site that differentiate itself on its performance rather than low price.


According to reports, Flipkart 's USP is its simple interface, fast searching and free shipping. The owners have rightly identified the critical differentiating factors and their service delivery is also quite fast. According to the brand owners, the market for online bookstore is around Rs 25 crore out of the total market size of Rs 4000 crore ( source). Competition is slowly hotting up in this space also.

What is interesting about flipkart is that the brand does not rely on above the line promotions. Rather, the brand depends on SEO and word of mouth publicity to drive customer traffic to the site.

Not all things are perfect for this brand. I still buy from my old store after comparing prices. The lack of a loyalty program is a big minus for an e-commerce site like flipkart. I feel that bookstores' cashcow will be the loyal customers rather than unique visitors.

For a startup, flipkart has really succeeded in getting basics correct. The brand has the potential to lure or poach customers from other similar competitors because it can deliver its promise faster. But when the customer base grows, it is a challenge for the brand owners to keep the high level of performance intact.

Brand Update : Rexona (Reborn November 2009)

HUL never ceases to surprise me. One year back , HUL decided to kill Rexona and migrate the brand to Hamam. The brand also launched a high profile campaign announcing the migration of Rexona to Hamam. It created a Hamam variant named Hamam Abhyangasnanam and all the ads screamed - Rexona is now Hamam Abhyangasnanam .
Yesterday , I was surprised to see a television commercial of Rexona. So the brand has been resurrected after one year. I am not sure why a company like HUL has such a complicated brand strategy. How can a company decide on killing one brand, spent crores of money in promoting the brand migration and after one year decide to bring back the killed brand??

If the company doing this is an amateur firm, then it can be seen as a learning experience but when the company is HUL, no logic can explain this. Can a company like HUL misjudge consumer mindset like this ?

The only reason I see is that there is some serious brand vision issue with HUL. The company has lost its vision for the brands. There is a discontinuity in the strategy for the HUL brands and this is evident in the way HUL has dealt with the brands in recent times. I have a feeling that the brand managers have lost a long term focus on the brands. They are now driven by the ROI and short-term profitability which is driving them in unnecessary brand extensions and migrations.
At the deo front , Rexona deo is a neglected brand . The promotions are not good enough and nothing exciting is happening at that domain. It is time that HUL devise some longterm brand vision for its brands before it is too late.

Anyways , as a customer, I am glad that Rexona is back. This is a sensible brand and have a potential to be a good simple family soap.