Ever since the FlipKart Mega Sale concluded and enough said on the huge revenue amassed by them and I was also amongst those to having received their regret letter and read a lot of frustrated online shoppers on social media who were not lucky enough to pick their choices in time!
Lets see what happened to those who picked the products well in time and seemed lucky ! I guess FlipKart didn’t spare them as well to turn good customers into bad ones 🙂
The worst recent posts on Facebook state that #Flipkart sends them a regret note to inform them that their courier partner was unable to deliver the order and hence they have taken the liberty to cancel the items and initiated refunds!
(Source :Anonymous & restricted)
The result :
1) Furious shoppers bad mouthing them again on forums!
2) Hashtags like #flipkartsucks #onebillionfools
3) Comments like ridiculous fake discount tags with cheaper prices.
4) Earning interest and buying time during the refund period week
5) No control over the courier/ logistics -Self or owned
Who gained in revenue Flipkart ..
Who gains long term? Amazon of course !
The overall negative sentiment is proving that all online shoppers are swearing to shop on Amazon and that tilts the #CustomerExperience and positive #Sentiment in their favour .
As strategists we often ask :
Q : Who owns the end to end customer experience here ?
Q: Is FlipKart listening on Social ?
Q: What is the response strategy?
Q: How will Flipkart regain customer mindshare?
What could they have done differently ?
These are just suggestions but happy to hear suggestions and more inputs :}
1) Real time tracking social media monitoring & response mechanism : Listening to negative sentiment and responding actively and genuinely to unhappy clients / prospects
2)Build trust and maintaining transparency : Genuine concerns/ challenges stated upfront by maintaining transparency amongst customers especially for delayed shipments would have gone a long way in retaining trust and customer retention.
3) Customer Experience It is : Appointing a Customer happiness manager ? Clients will feel assured and trustworthy to purchase in future and know that FlipKart cares..Please refer to my post on Customer Experience matters in a digital world
4) Email or phone communication around replacement or refund : The clients did not shop with an intend to seek refund !
So all said and done..in a digital world there are no faces -there are only transactions for Flipkart or any ecommerce company and if and when they reach enlightenment for gaining customer loyalty and customer retention then someone needs to show up and take ownership …So will the real mr Bansal please stand up?
(Disclaimer: These views thoughts,opinions are my own and does not represent my company.I am not representing my company while sharing any opinions on social media)
Ranjini Rao's Journey to an Extra ordinary living 