English – Page 40 – Flipkart Stories

The sheer availability of options when shopping online can be daunting. To make sure you are buying exactly what you need as opposed to everything you want, takes some discipline. With the amount of choice available at every mega-store, planning out shopping even offline is hard enough. The convenience of online retailers like Flipkart make it easier to fulfil your wishes. This is where features like the Wishlist on the Flipkart mobile app comes in handy. A nifty tool, designed to let you save your potential purchases, it can help you become a more disciplined shopper with ease. Here’s an explainer to help you get started!

Also read: Product reviews for shopping online help everyone – here is how

What is the Flipkart Wishlist?

If you didn’t already know, the Wishlist is a simple listing feature available on the Flipkart app. It lets you add and collect all the items that you wish to purchase. All the products that you want to own can now be put up in one easy-to-reach destination. Since they aren’t ending up in your cart, the likelihood that you’ll check out with all the unnecessary doo-dads is lesser. This is a great first step when you want to control your spending. You can easily review your choices, take a second look and even delete irrelevant items from your list. Since you get to decide what stays on the list and what goes off it, you’ve already made significant headway!

Fine, so how can you create your own Wishlist?

On logging into the Flipkart app, you will find that every product you surf has a small tab that offers you the feature to add the product to your Wishlist. In the product page, see that heart icon on the top right corner? Tap it and you’ll see the heart turn red, with the words, “Item added to your Wishlist” appearing below. Add multiple items to your Wishlist and it will be saved for you. All you have to do is tap the heart icon and you’re done.

Okay, but how do you manage this Wishlist?

Once you are done creating your list, you can view it on the Wishlist tab that exists under your user profile in the far right, top corner of the app. Tapping it will reveal the Wishlist option which is denoted by the heart icon. Your Wishlist can then be easily viewed whenever you want. Once you open your Wishlist, you can see a small garbage bin icon next to each product. Just ‘bin’ the item to get rid of it! Want to see more items like the product in the Wishlist? Just tap this icon and you’ll get to see a host of similar products.

Great, but what if you want to share your Wishlist with someone?

In shopping, opinion matters. So what to do if you want to check with your best friends or partner before buying the products on your wishlist? Well, no worries. The Flipkart Ping feature allows you to share individual product details, as well as your entire Wishlist with your close ones. Simply open Flipkart Ping, start the chat with your contact and share your Wishlist. You will notice a plus sign at the bottom left of the screen that allows you to add anything from your Wishlist, to items in your shopping cart, to even allowing you to share your shopping screen.

Now that you know exactly how to use and manage the Wishlist, have fun buying the right products now and adding your wishlist for later!

Maneesh Sharma started off working in an MNC in Delhi, but dreamt of being self-employed. Needing an outlet that gave free reign to his creativity, his wife Charu and him decided to invest in a dream. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they ventured into the home decor niche. Finalizing on a plan to sell customized wall decor, the couple started DeStudio.

Going the online route

The couple’s business was structured to suit the requirements of online retail. This decision was for a variety of reasons. They were a start-up and their challenges were low investment and lack of space. Both issues were not very relevant when it came to e-commerce. Starting DeStudio from within the confines of their own home, they noticed that the going was frustratingly slow. People didn’t quite trust a new company like theirs and customer faith was the most important factor in getting orders. A little dejected at receiving only one or two orders a week, Maneesh and Charu turned to a trusted e-retailer, Flipkart.

Gathering steam

“After we joined Flipkart, we started getting more orders. The demand increased because people trusted Flipkart,” says Maneesh. With hard work, better images to showcase their products online and a creative design bank, Maneesh and Charu soon had to shift the business from their home to a larger space. The expansion took less than a couple of years. “Since we went online with Flipkart, our reach increased exponentially. A few days ago, we got more than 7,500 orders in less than 3 hours! A few of those were delivered to Port Blair!” says an excited Maneesh. Their day now involves Charu checking orders, answering calls from customers, solving their queries and Maneesh usually heading to their packaging center. This is where his employees pack and export their decals to 190 countries across the world! For Flipkart, they usually pack 250 to 300 orders per day.

Full speed ahead!

Not only did Maneesh finally find freedom and independence, but was also able to showcase his creativity to the outside world. “Today our design bank boasts more than 10 lakh creations—a large part of which, I have designed myself!” he says with understandable pride. Impressive as it is to see the couple continuing to work hard and produce something they believe in, there’s something even more touching. DeStudio’s employees were granted the power to plant the seeds of progress and hope. One of their packers, Puneet, used to have a job washing other people’s cars. His brother and he, both found respectable jobs with DeStudio, learning a lot and progressing beyond their wildest expectations.

Maneesh and Charu continue to follow their dreams, designing and creating imaginative wall decals at affordable prices. Their brand is slowly becoming a trusted name in the industry. With all of this, it is humbling to realize that their journey has transformed not just their life, but that of others it has touched.

Hear Maneesh, Charu and Puneet tell the DeStudio story below.

It was the early 2000s and Hitesh Bajpai worked passionately in the procurement sector of retail. He was struck by an idea that would change his life. Starting with the thought that normal furniture is too expensive and bulky for students and young professionals, he saw space for a product that was both affordable and portable. Hitesh immediately thought of the bean bag—a piece of furniture that is comfortable, affordable, movable and suits all age and income brackets. The next thought he had was something that spurs every entrepreneur to action: Why shouldn’t it be me?

Baby steps

When Hitesh started his business, Biggie Bean Bags, it was on a very small scale. Slowly and steadily, as a testament to his innovative design and hard work, he saw customers respond to his products and the demand inched up little by little. In 2011, Hitesh started a small manufacturing unit. While business was alright, there was one problem: his bean bags had reached Tier I and II cities across India but he was unable to penetrate the market beyond. Not being able to fully utilize the demand in Tier II and Tier III cities was like not being able to reach a growing base of ready customers. Hitesh realised he was losing out on a large chunk of business.

Conquering challenges

This was when Hitesh considered the idea of e-commerce or online sales. “I realized that this is a time when everyone has a computer at home and buy small and big things on their phones,” he recalls. He decided to register on Flipkart as a vendor, created a catalogue of the different shapes and designs of bean bags, hoping for the best, submitted it. In just a few months, he had connected to ten thousand new customers from Tier II and III cities. This resulted in a jump of 25-30% in his sales. “I did an additional business of about ₹ 50,000 in that time,” he says, “and I realized that Flipkart is a very customer-oriented company.”

The first steps towards a new brand

Hitesh’s insight from his first association with the online retailer was that it kept its customers coming back for more. According to Hitesh, the inclusion of superior products at affordable prices, timely delivery coupled with consistent quality and great customer services were all hallmarks of the Flipkart experience.

This is why Hitesh decided to develop a new brand – Cozy Bean Bags. The aim was to offer customers the best product at the best price with super fast delivery. The gamble paid off and the brand is, today, firmly entrenched in the minds of buyers. “We experiment with the colors, designs and shapes and make sure our quality stands out in comparison to others to offer the customer something new and exciting and more comfy,” he says. Today, Hitesh’s brand has 950 designs that it has created, no small feat for any entrepreneur. “Flipkart was my first step in making my own brand,” says Hitesh with pride. “I’ll spend the next 10 years turning my company into a public limited entity,” he adds.

If you’re excited about technology getting smarter and smartphone apps being designed to be more useful, we’re sure you’ve thought about the Voice Search option on the Flipkart mobile app. Tapping the search bar on the home screen, you’ll see the mic, the barcode and the camera icon. Tapping the mic icon gives you access to Voice Search. We’ve compiled some tips and tricks here to ensure you become a voice search pro in no time!

https://instagram.com/p/-JPJsiBOzH/

Why use it?

Convenient
It’s easier to talk than type, right? If you’re slow at typing or find it cumbersome to tap the right letter on your smartphone screen (like millions of other users), let your voice do the talking!

Hands-free
Holding a briefcase or tote in one hand and a child in the other? Just about hanging on to the phone is the most you can do? Fret not. Voice Search makes it really easy to search. Imagine a hundred other scenarios where you’d be better off not using both hands to type and Voice Search comes to your rescue.

Spelling-shy
Not good with spellings? Didn’t catch that new brand name? If you can say it, the Voice Search app will do the hard work for you!

It actually works
Unlike your other experiences with voice-enabled smart devices, the Voice Search on the Flipkart app is actually designed keeping the way Indians speak in mind. No more worrying about not being understood.

Also Read: 6 tips to shop like a pro with the Flipkart Mobile app

How to get it right

Be clear
Remember what your English teacher always said in school? Enunciate! Speak slowly and clearly and you’ll see Voice Search pick it up in a jiffy.

Use the right keywords
If you’re looking for a mobile phone, make sure you’re using the keywords with the brand name, the device type, the category or the feature. Eg: Say “Lenovo, smartphone, 4GB.”

Don’t speak in long sentences Keep it short! Speak the product name or category, with size and color and you’ll get better search results.

voice search — We wanted to search for bags so we said “Bags” when this screen popped up!

How to narrow it down

Be specific
When it comes to color and product size, try being as specific as possible so you aren’t saddled with a thousand products that will take you a day to browse through! Get the best out of Voice Search by being specific first and then getting more general. If you wanted to buy a sofa, and preferred a blue one, you could say “Large blue cotton sofa” instead of just saying “sofa”.

Cut down on the keywords
If you are being too generic with your search, you’re probably including too many keywords and getting too many results. Instead of saying “White living room furniture”, you could instead say “White recliner” and get more targeted results.

Make use of tools: You can also use the ‘Filter’ and ‘Sort By’ tools to further hone in your search results by sub category, brands, price and popularity.

Now that you know how what’s the first thing you’re using Voice Search for?

Shopping on a mobile app is easy, convenient and brings an immense range of products along with awesome discounts right to your fingertips! As more people have turned to the smartphone to shop, they’ve found rating and reviewing products online to be an extremely valuable process. Here’s why.

Educated shopping

A wide variety of products at your fingertips is convenient, but can also be overwhelming. How can you possibly know which product to choose, and how could you base your decision on an image and a description? Here’s where reading reviews from previous buyers helps you pick the product that is perfect for you. From alerting you about a flawed model to giving you insight on how to best make use of a product, first-hand user reviews can help you get a much more well-rounded idea of the purchase you are looking to make.

screenshot5 — You might want to buy a new phone but you haven’t quite made up your mind about it. You know the price but that user rating on the right hand corner can make a huge difference.

Also Read: 6 tips to shop like a pro using the Flipkart mobile app

Smart shopping

By writing a review of your personal experience with a product, you are reaching out to other shoppers who might have had similar experiences. Take a look at what those commenters are saying about other products too—since your points-of-view match, seeing what they like might lead you to a new product that will suit you! You’ll find that writing reviews and rating products lets you contribute to an online community, where you can share the experience of shopping with buyers around the world. This will also ensure that you’re standing behind the best brands and more importantly, the best products.

This detailed breakdown of the overall rating can be useful to gauge how well the product performs. This phone is largely getting 4 and 5 stars.

Responsible shopping

It can be very frustrating to make a purchase online and find that the product isn’t what you expected it to be. Maybe the shirt doesn’t fit you like it fits the model in the picture or maybe the dimensions of the coffee machine aren’t quite what the listing said. Writing a review online will ensure that the company selling the product is aware of its defects or flawed marketing, and will hold them accountable. The review will also help warn potential buyers against making a similar purchase.

screenshot3 — Detailed reviews such as these will help gain a lot of clarity and allow for better buying for you and others. Happy reviewing!

Shopping online on a mobile app, mobile site or desktop site is easy, convenient and brings an immense range of products along with awesome discounts right to your fingertips. As more people have turned to the smartphone to shop, they’ve found rating and reviewing products online to be an extremely valuable process. To make the most of deals and discounts that comes your way, especially during special sales like Flipkart’s Big Billion Days, product reviews are even more important. Here’s why.

Educated shopping

Also Read: 6 tips to shop like a pro using the Flipkart mobile app

Smart shopping

Responsible shopping

Why can’t we have an app like awesome experience on the web?

Web apps have always been a challenge, especially on the compact, new age mobile devices. They offer a scaled down experience of their desktop counterpart—drastically hampering the user’s interaction. This is where native applications came to play, providing users with a superior alternative. But in these apps, constraints like device type and signal strength bring along their own limitations. What if we can create the best experience of both worlds?

At Flipkart, we’re always looking to delight our customers and create a fabulous shopping experience for our users. Product innovation that delivers a superior user experience is at the core of our philosophy. It’s this focus that pushes us to build great products and constantly reinvent. We always knew native apps offer a great user experience, and we wanted to push the boundaries of mobile web to see what’s possible and take it to the next level.

We set out to build an experience that combines the richness of native applications with the no-hassle and lightweight nature of the web. Limitations of the web platform are often cited as the challenges in delivering a great user experience; but instead of letting these limitations stop us, we dug deeper into the problem and explored what we can do to challenge these limitations and bring out the goodness to our users. We worked with a couple of leading browsers* to enable some of the app capabilities that would fundamentally change the way people experience the mobile web.

Today, we are thrilled to bring to you – Flipkart Lite – a mobile web app that promises to delight. You can easily add the web app to your homepage and the home screen icon lets you access it with one touch, without having to type in a URL every single time. Flipkart Lite opens with a splashscreen, exactly like a native app. It has fast and easy navigation and works on 2G and in offline mode too! Right from the word go, you’ll see rich interactions and transitions.

Providing a continuous experience for our users along every step of the way was one of our key goals and Flipkart Lite stays true to that promise. For all those wary of its performance in poor network coverage, Flipkart Lite lets you access past searches, whether you’re in poor network connectivity or in airplane mode. Go on, try accessing the last few products you viewed and you’ll see what we mean.

One of the key tenets of a delightful Mobile experience is getting timely and relevant updates on the go. In future, we will be adding the capability to let our users receive push notifications, even if the browser is closed!

What’s more, you don’t have to worry about installing new updates! We’ve ensured continuous access to the latest updates so you can continue to shop with ease and efficiency!

It’s been a fantastic journey in building for the mobile web but our job isn’t done yet. We’re always looking for the best possible way to excite and engage our users and we promise to keep the innovation rolling from the house of Flipkart!

* Flipkart Lite is currently compatible on select browsers. Presently available on Chrome – Version 42 & above and Opera – Versions 33 & above

An article by Karan Peri, Mobile Product Manager at Flipkart

We know you love shopping, but what about the people around you?

FlipkartConnect is Flipkart’s national campaign that helps identify and quantify trends in online shopping, within select regions. The effort, first launched in Punjab, helps educate customers about shopping habits and trends in their state. The second leg of the campaign is one of Flipkart’s fastest growing consumer markets – Uttar Pradesh. What sells the most? Where are people shopping the most from? How do they shop? Here’s all you need to know about Uttar Pradesh.

Customers in UP have been showing an increasing amount of interest in categories like small home appliances and products for kids. The data also revealed that categories like home appliances and small appliances saw the highest sales during this year’s Big Billion Days. Uttar Pradesh also saw over 80% of shopping traffic coming through the Flipkart Mobile app.

All the more reason for you to download the Flipkart mobile app, unless you’ve already got it.

We know you love shopping, but what about the people around you?

All the more reason for you to download the Flipkart mobile app, unless you’ve already got it.

From October 13 to 17, India shopped like a nation obsessed at #TheBigBillionDays. From sneak peeks inside Flipkart to customers gushing in delight at their orders, from the nail-biting anxiety of app overload to the ecstasy of meeting targets, we combed through social media updates to pick and compile the most memorable moments. In case you missed it, don’t fret. Here’s something to remember and cherish #TheBigBillionDays by, so don’t forget to retweet and share the updates you enjoyed the most.

Great beginnings are dramatic. The story of the first-ever sale on Flipkart is a page-turner in itself, packing in a fair share of crisis and climax, nail-biting tension and hot-wheels action, inclement weather, borrowed money, a race against time, and a victorious finale. We caught up with the first Flipkart customer to relive the memory of the sale that changed the future of e-commerce in India.

8 years ago, a man from Mahabubnagar bought a book online. Page 1 of the @Flipkart story http://t.co/km4Vaz1oDw pic.twitter.com/Tn0t4us5ap

— Flipkart Stories (@FlipkartStories) October 15, 2015

It was late October 2007. V V K Chandra lived in Mahabubnagar, a town in undivided Andhra Pradesh that is now the headquarters of the largest district in the new state of Telangana. Chandra used to run a freelance web consultancy at the time. His voracious appetite for books brought him frequently to Hyderabad, 90 km away, where he combed the city’s famous bookstores for inspiration. But even Hyderabad’s best didn’t stock the one book he craved – John Wood’s memoir Leaving Microsoft to Change The World.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: Buy Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by Wood John Visiting Fellow at Low Price in India | Flipkart.com

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by Wood John Visiting Fellow from Flipkart.com. Only Genuine Products. 30 Day Replacement Guarantee. Free Shipping. Cash On Delivery!

Flipkart.com

Chandra used to blog about technology and the internet. Beneath one of his posts, a user who identified himself as Sachin had left a comment with the link: www.flipkart.com.

“In hindsight, I guess he was really marketing his site!” laughs Chandra, who now works in the San Francisco Bay Area. Intrigued by the unfamiliar link, he clicked, and found himself on a site that purported to sell books and ship them anywhere in India. He hadn’t seen anything like it before.

Flipkart website circa 2008 first customer — Flipkart website circa 2008

“The website looked decent. I won’t say it was amazing,” recalls Chandra, who was then keenly following the startup scene in India. “As a developer dreaming of launching a startup, I know what used to make good websites those days. Most of the e-commerce websites weren’t user-friendly.”

More importantly, the site stocked the book he wanted. He decided to luck it out.

“It was not an expensive book, just about ₹500. I could afford to risk losing that money,” Chandra recollects, chuckling.

He ordered. And waited.

A whoop of cheer went up in a small two-bedroom apartment in Koramangala, Bangalore, where Flipkart had just taken its baby steps. Nobody had yet made a purchase on the freshly unboxed website. Co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, unrelated despite the common surname, spent their interminable waking hours promoting their new startup and feverishly scanning their inboxes for emails. Chandra’s order was the very first.

Jubilation turned quickly to confusion, with a hint of panic. Leaving Microsoft seemed to be unavailable.

“We looked for the book for two days across 50 bookstores in Bangalore and even called up a few in Delhi and Mumbai,” remembers Binny. He dashed off an email to Chandra.

Was Flipkart’s first sale going to be a damp squib? Tensions ran high.

“I finally spotted the book at Sapna Book Store in Indiranagar,” Binny recalls. It was the last copy and it wasn’t exactly in mint condition. “The pages were yellowish but thankfully they were not torn,” he says.

Binny phoned Chandra to buy time. He couldn’t get through.

When Chandra received Binny’s email he felt reassured. “I thought, at least this is a real company,” he mused, recalling the episode. “I felt like I could trust them.”

Chandra wanted the book so badly that he didn’t care if it wasn’t bookstore-fresh. The man who was about to be the first Flipkart customer wrote:

History was one step away.

But there was more drama in store. October in Bangalore is known for torrential rains, waterlogged streets and traffic woes. All of which makes riding a bike a reasonably heroic pursuit as many Bangaloreans on two wheels will attest. At about five in the evening, soaking wet, Binny arrived at the bookstore in Indiranagar. And realized that he had forgotten his wallet. He went right back into the rain.

“I borrowed money from one of my roommates to pay for the book,” says Binny who returned to the bookstore to purchase the book.

On October 31, 2007, Chandra’s order was shipped. Since November 1 was a state holiday in Karnataka on account of Kannada Rajyothsava, the book reached him in Mahabubnagar the following day.

Not just the first Flipkart customer but a satisfied one, too!

“Not only did they deliver the book, they offered me a 10% discount for my troubles,” says Chandra. The first Flipkart customer who left a glowing customer testimonial that was featured on the Flipkart home page for months to come:

The best Indian online book store I have ever seen. Fast and free shipping, discounts and a large number of titles. I could not have expected more. You guys really rock. Good luck.

Heartfelt praise from a young bookworm in Mahabubnagar who was spared the ordeal of a 90-km commute to Hyderabad. Who took a chance and went down in history as the first Flipkart customer!

That’s how Flipkart fulfilled its first wish. And that’s the story of how the first Flipkart customer came to be!

Bijoy Venugopal is Editor @FlipkartStories. He tweets at @bijoyv

Lead image courtesy Sumanth Anand

It is every online shopper’s worst nightmare to have to return a product and then follow up with the retailer to ensure that your account has been credited with the appropriate amount. Buying something you’re not sure of and then returning it especially when you’ve paid in cash can make life even more difficult.

Luckily, Flipkart has tapped in on this sentiment and introduced an innovative new policy this year, whereby refunds for Cash on Delivery (CoD) payments will be made within 24 hours. Sounds too good to be true? Well, in this case it really works. When you don’t like a product, you can get a quick refund through Immediate Payments System transfers (IMPS), as soon as the product reaches Flipkart’s local hub.

Of course, for you to benefit from this policy, you have to ensure that your bank account supports IMPS transactions. In fact, the process is so smooth, that you are even intimated of the progress of your refund through emails and text messages. Considering the earlier refund process took 3-5 business days, this new policy cuts down on the wait and increases our convenience and their efficiency by spades! The timely messages and emails you’ll receive further ensure that you don’t have to explain your case to a customer service employee every time you want to check the progress of your refund. Whew!

It is great to be a part of an online venture that holds customer service at the core of its operations and is actively taking steps to ensure that your shopping experience is convenient and fulfilling. With a refund policy as smooth and simple as Flipkart’s, enriching your life with the choicest products just got that much simpler!

To check if your bank has the IMPS transaction capability, click here.

Also read: Product reviews for shopping online help everyone – here is how

What is the Flipkart Wishlist?

Fine, so how can you create your own Wishlist?

Okay, but how do you manage this Wishlist?

Great, but what if you want to share your Wishlist with someone?

Going the online route

Also read: How Saumya Gupta learned to fly

Gathering steam

Full speed ahead!

Baby steps

Conquering challenges

The first steps towards a new brand

Why use it?

How to get it right

How to narrow it down

Educated shopping

Smart shopping

Responsible shopping

Educated shopping

Smart shopping

Responsible shopping

Not just the first Flipkart customer but a satisfied one, too!