E-Commerce in India is evolving at rapid pace and it looks like the battle between the two leading players – Amazon & Flipkart – is heating up. Both of them have announced slew of new features for their customers over past few months that include things like same day shopping & Kirana store product pick-up.
Now, Flipkart has taken a leaf out of Amazon’s subscription service “Prime” (which is available in US only) and bought it to India, even before Amazon India themselves.
Flipkart has announced “Flipkart First”, a soon-to-be-launched paid annual subscription service for shoppers who wish to get exclusive benefits and have access to priority service.
What Does Flipkart First Offer?
Customers who opt for “Flipkart First” will avail many benefits; here are some of them:
1) Free Shipping: Flipkart First customers will get free shipping on all orders, irrespective of their order value. Currently, there is minimum cut-off of Rs. 500 below which shipping charges are levied.
2) In-A-Day Delivery: Subscribers will always get their orders delivered in a day as long as that facility is available for that particular product and location.
3) Discounted Same Day: Currently, any customers who wants to have same day delivery needs to pay Rs. 140 per order, however, Flipkart First will get this facility at much discounted rates.
4) Priority Customer Service: Flipkart First customers will get priority customer service 24X7.
5) 60 Day Replacement: Most products on Flipkart have 30 day or less than 30 day replacement guarantee. Subscribers of Flipkart First service will get extended warranty of 60 days.
How Much Does Flipkart First Cost?
Flipkart has not announced it as yet. But it will be a annual subscription service and in our view it should be around Rs. 750 to Rs. 1000. If it is priced more than that, then it will not be cost effective to majority of users as they may not find it attractive enough.
Flipkart has not give any specific date or time frame, other than saying that they “It will soon be announced”
How Will it Help Flipkart?
Simple, once a customer subscribes to Flipkart First service, they will always come back to Flipkart for their purchases. Flipkart not only gets subscription fees (that too in advanced), but also ties up users to their platform for a year for all their purchases.
This is an excellent move by Flipkart. They know how well Amazon Prime has worked in US, and they are bringing the same in India as well!
Do let us know what you think about Flipkart First? would you subscribe to it? And if yes, at what price?