Essay About Customer Trust And Importance Of Customer Servicenot

Problems with Flipkart
Problems with Flipkart (why?)Falling market share, due to competition from existing brands like Amazon, Snapdeal and Paytm and also new Players like ShopcluesNo longer a lean organization, need for downsizing, which impacts imageDeferring placements, creating negative image on wannabe employees and academic institutionsLegal issues in the white goods market, complaints from xyz to Competition Authority of IndiaImproper execution of Major Sales Promotion events like Big Billion DayLosing out the edge on price competitiveness compared to its competitors – PayTm, Amazon, SnapdealHigh spend on advertisement, revenue/advertisement costDe-valuation of Flipkart from $15 bn to $11 bn. Why? – possible reasons – e-commerce industry was overhyped initially, now its turning mature, company still not profitable so losing investor’s trustSometimes fake/wrong products are being delivered due to inefficient supply-chain management, losing customer trust/loyalty(Edited)Positioning in Increasingly Competitive MarketThere is stiff competition from worldwide players and new entrants alike- Amazon, Snapdeal, Shopclues, PayTMThis translates to “discount wars” and loss leading strategies which deepens lossesPositioning proposition not constant over the years. Flipkart reversed its decision to go “app-only” on mobile. Currently message is “Flipkart matlab bilkul pakka”, highlighting the importance of customer serviceNot yet able to penetrate into Tier I and Tier II cities as per initial plans, thus not able to increase customer base at a good paceScaling Issues, Investor outlook instead of customer outlookSince Flipkart is not yet profitable, it is reliant on external funding to support expansion, price cutting or big promotional eventsNot able to allocate adequate resources for long term investments to improve customer fulfillment and after-sale serviceHigh spend on advertisement or cost of customer acquisition, which is leading to further lossesNot a lean organization at current scale, which raises operational costs and causes negative publicity after layoffsNegative publicity, perceptionControversy surrounding stock-outs on Big Billion Day, under-fulfilling on promotional eventsAllegations of price variability to offer illusory discountsCases of fake products being delivered, which makes a dent on brand loyaltyControversy surrounding deferring placements offered to IIM-A graduatesLegal trouble in the White Goods Market, Complaints to Competition Authority of IndiaRecommendations: -Since online retail is going to boom in the coming years, it is necessary for this industry to have logistics support. So, since Flipkart is already having its own logistics arm E-kart, it can provide this logistics service to its competitors in online retail industry.In this type of industry, price matters a lot to customers. If same product is offered by two e-tailers at two different prices, customers will go for the lowest price. So, Flipkart should try to offer the products at lower prices. This can be done by optimizing its logistics services. Since logistics cost plays an important role in determining the price of the product. Filpkart should try to optimize its supply chain in such a manner that its supply chain costs should be very less and try to offer products at lower price compared to its competitors.Flipkart can also employ relationship marketing into it. Instead of mainly focusing on customer acquisition, it should also focus on customer retention. Because loyal customers are more profitable when compared to new customers.source : –