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Why Amazon or Flipkart can't survive by cheating customers

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K Srinivasan
K SrinivasanOct 14, 2016 | 16:45

Why Amazon or Flipkart can't survive by cheating customers

To know the difference between two e-commerce vendors, suggests an online buyer, one must have accounts with both for a firsthand experience. You have bought products from two shops and let’s say you have a problem with them. Let’s assume these shops are Flipkart and Amazon. Let's look at their customer service portals at Amazon.in and Flipkart.com.

What is the difference? Flipkart's CSP reads: “Hey, Welcome! Do you have a problem? Check out our exhaustive list of known issues, browse through it, break your head and if you feel you don’t find your problem on that list, write us an email. We will get back to you.”

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Amazon's CSP reads: “Hey Welcome! Here is your list of orders. Now if you may please tell for which order you are having an issue, we can directly talk about that and solve it here right away! The available communication modes are email, callback and chats. Choose the one you prefer.”

Wow, that’s great! You see the difference. People are always at ease when solving their issues with Amazon all these days. Does that answer the question?

As far as today’s e-commerce world goes, customer satisfaction is the one and most primary concern. People say when it comes to the problem, you can vouch for Amazon's service. They are doing their best.

One customer writes, today I was dissatisfied after a chat with Amazon's customer care and gave them a poor rating. This is what they have to offer to a dissatisfied customer — he says he is still happy.

“Thanks. We have received your feedback. Please give us another chance to help you. Click the button below to provide your phone number. You will be asked to provide a phone number when you can be reached and a customer service representative will call to assist you in a few minutes. Please turn off pop-up blockers. If not near a phone, send us an email.”

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In the end, it really comes down to principles and values with which an organisation works.

Amazon claims to be the most customer-centric organisation in the world and many bet it still puts the customer at the centre of everything and designs its processes backwards. It has worked the best for them, whereas Flipkart appears to focus on the price and sales volume — not focusing really on customer-centric data gathering — for instance, the number of dissatisfied customers during the Big Billion Day sales.

Apparently, Flipkart was lost in the gusty windfalls of the sales volume/turnover it got, perhaps ignoring customer dissatisfaction.

No online portal appears able enough to beat Amazon at the e-battlefield of Elba as far as customer service goes. A customer dissatisfied with some products delivered by Amazon reports that he returned all such merchandise and got the refund for his returned products, no questions asked. He says I never lied to them and they never cheated me - a win-win for both. True! Amazon's money-refunded-for-returned-goods-no-questions-asked is the best part of the story.

In contrast, another customer reports having had a bad experience with Amazon for the last 10 days. He says a mobile phone he ordered never got delivered. Each time he reached them, the customer service said they would send him updates, yet they had no idea where his product was, when it would reach him, reasons for delay, et al. Things have not changed even though he escalated the issue to Amazon managing director Jeff Bezos and India head Amit Agarwal.

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The worst part, he says, is that the mobile phone he was to gift his mother on her 60th birthday — over 10 days ago — never arrived. Never had I encountered this issue with Flipkart, no wonder they are the best in the country in terms of mobile phone delivery says the irate customer. He says, when even the heads are not bothered, would the others care? Don’t buy anything from Amazon, it is not what it used to be in the past, he pronounces, unequivocally.

A shop owner reports as the dealer on both platforms. The primary difference between Amazon and Flipkart is their concept of business ethics and dignity.

Flipkart undoubtedly fails on both these fronts. Business ethics is, of course, a serious concern there. In addition, Flipkart is a company with a clerical operational approach, not a management-oriented one while Amazon is stunningly supportive of sellers, transparent in its dealings, efficient, and pleasantly professional. Flipkart is opaque all around. Some of the shortcomings reported by the dealer:

1. Delusional product image: There is no background image policy for many Indian marketplaces like Flipkart and Snapdeal.

2. Multi-step uploads: Several steps opted for by the sellers before acceptance.

3. Manual quality checks: Flipkart and Snapdeal have several manual quality checks before upload.

4. Capitalising on wrong returns and encouraging customers to make indiscriminate orders, putting the traders at a great disadvantage.

5. Regressive business model: The product-mongering attitude has taken to “Easy returns” instead of promoting product range and quality.

Flipkart’s top management is bullheaded and if you don’t have motivated sellers and are a drop ship marketplace, your imagination will run dry and you can go wrong, say the traders.

Amazon, at the same time, the traders say, has clear business codes: no loving, caring, sharing. Pure, balanced trade. That’s professionalism and as per our experience, US companies know that best.

flipkart_559_0919160_101416040806.jpg
Flipkart’s top management is bullheaded, say traders.

Some say they prefer Flipkart over Amazon while others believe otherwise. But mere big billion, big day sales are not enough. These e-commerce giants should evolve good ethical principles of marketing and customer care.

They should take care to ensure:

1. Quality

2. Timely delivery

3. Early returns for the right reasons

4. Quick replacement

5. Easy refund

6. Customer complaints and immediate resolution of issues

It will be a sad day when customers of the e-commerce marketplace have no choice. So far so good. There is no sign yet of Flipkart going under, but there is an inevitability to Amazon’s overpowering growth, which already showed the uptick in the great sale for reasons best known to the Indian customer - the ultimate king.

Try hard as they might by taking turns in selling churan and hing, neither Flipkart, nor Snapdeal - not even Amazon can hope to become the king.

Last updated: October 14, 2016 | 22:11
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