Flipkart (B): The Ongoing Battle for India's E-Commerce Market

Sunil  Gupta; Das  Narayandas; Rachna  Tahilyani

Supplement | HBS Case Collection | April 2018

Flipkart (B): The Ongoing Battle for India's E-Commerce Market

by Sunil Gupta, Das Narayandas and Rachna Tahilyani

Abstract

In 2017, both Flipkart and Amazon claimed leadership position in India's recently concluded key annual festive season sale, but it was too early to declare victory. Amazon continues to invest heavily in India. Competition from newer players is increasing. Media reports hint that Reliance Industries, a large Indian conglomerate, is planning to extend its e-commerce offering beyond fashion to electronics, mobile phones and even groceries. As the battle for India's lucrative e-commerce market gains pace, experts wonder--who will win? Is India a winner-takes-all market or is there space for more than one player?

Keywords: Market Platforms; Online Technology; Competition; Retail Industry; India;

Language: English

Format: Print

9 pages

Citation:

Gupta, Sunil, Das Narayandas, and Rachna Tahilyani. "Flipkart (B): The Ongoing Battle for India's E-Commerce Market." Harvard Business School Supplement 518-097, April 2018.

In 2009, Lee O'Rourke was promoted to district vice president in charge of Macy's newly created North Florida district. This district consisted of 11 stores located in the greater Orlando area and in the east coast towns of Daytona, Melbourne, Merritt Island, and Vero Beach. The performance of these stores had lagged in recent years, and O'Rourke was charged with building a cross-functional district team to support these stores and with improving their overall performance. O'Rourke and her team were able to drive almost immediate improvement in the district's sales growth and profitability and in other key areas such as customer service scores. How can O'Rourke ensure that these stores continue to perform well going forward?

Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, co-founders of India's largest e-commerce company, Flipkart, were reviewing the foregoing Facebook post, which had gone viral and received more than 20,000 likes. A third-party seller listed a pair of women's sandals on Flipkart's website at 799 Indian rupees (₹) and offered it on promotion at ₹399. However, upon close examination of the product's display photo, consumers noticed a ₹399 price tag printed on the strap. Consistent with stated goals of transparency and building trusted relationships with customers, the Bansals immediately drafted an apology and terminated the seller's agreement with Flipkart.

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Flipkart (B): The Ongoing Battle for India's E-Commerce Market

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