PROJECT REPORT ORDER FULFILLMENT PROCESSS AT FLIPKART

SUBMITTED BY:
GROUP 2 FMG 21 C SRISHTI MAGAN 211143 UDIT ANAND 211152 VAIBHAV JAIN 211155 AANCHAL MAHAJAN 211160 VISHESH KALIA 211166 PRANAV BHARADWAJ 211171

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The project report is an analysis of the order fulfillment process at Flipkart. ORDER FULFILLMENT PROCESS: In the most general sense, order fulfillment process refers to the complete process from point of sales inquiry to delivery of a product to the customer. Sometimes order fulfillment is used to describe the narrower act of distribution or the logistics function, however, in the broader sense it refers to the way firms respond to customer orders. FLIPKART (A brief introduction): Flipkart is an Indian e-commerce company headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. Founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in 2007, Flipkart initially focused on online sales of books, but later expanded to electronic goods and a variety of other products. Flipkart offers multiple payment methods like credit card, debit card, net banking, e-gift voucher, and the major of all Cash on Delivery. The cash-on-delivery model adopted by Flipkart has proven to be of great significance since credit card and net banking penetration is very low in India. Thus, the report attempts to study the order fulfillment process at Flipkart. Flipkart revolutionized the whole process of online business i.e. e-commerce in India. However the main selling point for Flipkart has been its ability to ensure on-time delivery, ease of accessing products and the safety and more importantly the ease of transaction. Keeping these points in view, the group decided to study and analyze the whole process of order fulfillment at Flipkart.

NEED OF RESEARCH
The need of research stemmed from the fact that Flipkart brought about a complete overhaul in the e-commerce field in India. Flipkart has an excellent process of order fulfillment and the salient features incorporated by Flipkart made it a fit subject to study and analyze.

RELEVANE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Relevance of the Study: The topic selected has relevance with respect to the subject (e-commerce) in the following manner: It provides a better understanding of the importance of elements such as display, security etc. in case of e-commerce sites It gives an idea as to how all areas (marketing in form of display, finance in form of security etc.) of a business integrate to efficiently perform one single function. It relates the learning of the course to real life scenario, mainly the roles played by the logistic and supply system in an organisation. It provides an understanding of the features that set apart one e-commerce site as different from another, especially in light of the rise in internet traffic. Significance of the Study: The study is significant because order fulfillment process makes the basis of efficient working of any organization, be it product oriented, service oriented or a combination of both. Especially for purely e-commerce sites such as Flipkart, the need to increase the efficiency of the whole process becomes even more important. E-commerce sites have a greater need for this because of a complete lack of any physical infrastructure and thus they gain their popularity and build upon consumer trust through the efficiency of these services only.

PURPOSE AND OBEJCTIVE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study i.e. the reason for the study is to understand the order fulfillment process, and Flipkart has been chosen because of its apparent strength in this area. The objective of the study is to observe and analyze the order fulfillment process at Flipkart so as to understand the features incorporated by the organization.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Flipkart is an e-commerce site started in 2007 by Sachin and Binny Bansal. Developed for the sale and purchase of books, it has today entered into fields as diverse as technological products, daily personal needs, baby care and toys, home and kitchen etc. Sachin and Binny Bansal, both alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi originally worked for Amazon.com before quitting and founding their own company. Initially popularized through word of mouth marketing, today Flipkart has one of the most famous presence on the internet, with its advertisements rivaling marketing campaigns like that of Coke, Tata Sky etc. The first book ever sold on the site was "John Woods' Leaving Microsoft to Change the World", and ever since the world was their oyster. Today, Flipkart is among the top 20 Indian Web sites (as per Alexa traffic rankings) and with over 11 million titles to offer has been credited being India's largest online bookseller. In fact, Flipkart claims to have had at least 100% growth every quarter since its origin. It was in 2010 that the store branched out to selling CDs, DVDs, mobile phones and accessories, cameras, computers, computer accessories and peripherals, and in 2011, pens & stationery, other electronic items such as home appliances, kitchen appliances, personal care gadgets, health care products etc. Recently in 2012, Flipkart added A.C, air coolers, school supplies, office supplies, art supplies & life style products to its product portfolio. As of today, Flipkart employs more than 4500 people. Initially the Bansals funded Flipkart themselves with 400,000, but today venture capital funds like Accel India (US$1 million in 2009) and Tiger Global (US$10 million in 2010 and US$20 million in June 2011) are a major source of funding for Flipkart. Some of the major acquisitions for Flipkart have been "WeRead", a social book discovery tool (2010), "Chakpak.com", a Bollywood news site, and lastly "Letsbuy.com", India's second largest e-tailer in electronics. Financial performance of Flipkart has also been exemplary with a rise in reported sales from 40 million in FY 20082009 to 750 million for FY 20102011. All set to cross the 5 billion mark, Flipkart on average sells nearly 20 products per minute.

With its headquarters in Bangalore's Koramangala neighbourhood, Flipkart today has offices, warehouses and customer service centres across India. From its warehouses across places like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bhiwandi etc, Flipkart delivers the products to 95 cities which includes 2500 pincodes across India through its own logistics. The company , at present is working to make its courier service even better and has started the Flipkart Self delivery for the same reason Latest Developments : Flyte Digital Music Store Just in February 2012, the company revealed its new Flyte Digital Music Store, which is a legal music download service in the vein of iTunes and Amazon.com and offers DRMfree MP3 downloads. It has the language options to enable download of both international and regional songs. At present Flipkart hit the 100Cr mark in July 2012, while Flyte is has garnered nearly 600K downloads in just 5 Months. Lastly, Flipkart has also launched the ebook application on the Android platform on Nov 28, 2012.

Chapter 2 | Order Placement at Flipkart (By Udit Anand 211152) INTRODUCTION

Order placement is one of the most important features of an E-commerce website as it is a bridge between product selection and payment. Since it is directly related to revenue generation, company cannot neglect its importance. It can be a differentiating factor, as an easy order placement process would enhance sales and user experience, which would help getting more customers. Flipkart offers a highly interesting and well-developed catalogue display. Not only is the display easy to navigate, but also highly attractive. Moreover Flipkart possesses al the major elements, namely intelligent design, easier user interface and seamless movements across the website that make it such a popular site.

METHODOLOGY USED
In the methodology, we have visited the site and analyzed the various components and features by experiencing them first hand. We have created an account and skimmed through the site to assess order placement at Flipkart. Apart from the hands-on methodology, we have also searched the blogs and newspaper articles on innovation and business processes of Flipkart.

ANALYSIS
There are various steps involved in placing an order for an item in any of the ecommerce website. The ecommerce website has to take into account everything right from categorizing the products as well as a variety of payment options to be provided to the customer. For an easy understanding of the process, we have created an account and we will take you through the steps for placing an order for an item. By showing you the snapshots of the different stages we hope to make the procedure crystal clear and comprehensive.

1. Going to Flipkart.com webpage Enter the address http://flipkart.com in the address bar of your browser and login to Flipkart.

2. Creating a User Login As shown in the above figure, there is an option on the top right corner of the page of Flipkart with an option called Sign Up. As we all know that for any order placement every ecommerce site expects the user to fill in the details or create a user account. But in the case of Flipkart, there is just a single step registration process that asks the user to only fill in the email ID that he/she wants the details of the shipment to be sent. The user has two options for creating a user login. These are: Create a login as soon as he/she visits the site and then browse through the products. Browse through the products first, and if he/she likes something then the site prompts for registration which is done by the user.

Now, to create a login as soon as the user visits the site we click on the option of Sign Up on the top right corner of the webpage. The steps involved in this process are as follows:

As we can see above the processing time is being saved here by just having a pop-up on clicking the Sign Up option. Another interesting option that is provided by Fli pkart is to log in through the Facebook or Google account. This ensures the vision of Flipkart to expedite the ordering process and reduce the waiting time for its customers. Also by doing this it brings at par the users with a slow connection to the level of broadband users. It is because a pop-up is an easiest way for functionality with minimum usage of the bandwidth of the Internet connection.

Similarly for the other way of creating a user login would be to browse the products and create a login by clicking on the Buy This Now.

As soon as you click on Buy This Now without creating a login ID, you get a prompt for registering yourself by an email ID or a Facebook or Google login.

As soon as you enter your details in the textbox below, you are taken to the next tab i.e. the Shipping Address. Therefore, as we can see there is a single registration process window for the user that has already decided on a product. 3. Adding items to Cart The ecommerce websites have taken the concepts of carts from the normal brick models of retail. In the physical outlet, we take a cart and start putting the materials of purchase

in it while browsing all over the store. In the same way, the ecommerce websites have also implemented the same concept wherein we first browse through all the categories of items and decide on the items of purchase which we add in the cart which is a collection of items intended for purchase. The cart is billed when we checkout from the shopping area of the website. This is how it looks like:

The Place Order takes you to the registration, address filling and the payment stages of the order. Now as we can see, there are two types of carts Cart and Digital Cart. As there is a new initiative from Flipkart for buying eBooks and mp3 music, all these items go into the digital cart section. 4. Payment Gateway In the payment gateway we can choose from a slew of options to make payment and place the order. This will be explained in detail by Pranav in the subsequent chapter. There are some other aspects that need to be discussed in the order placement of an item. These are:

Display of Items The display of items is kept in such a way that the person has a full view of the product and is drawn to it. There is a big image of the product that gives full details of the specification of the product. There is also a rating scale with five stars that has a review link at its side. Offer, specifications and the delivery guarantee are also mentioned. The display of the item looks somewhat like this:

For the Add to compare option also the website provides the comparison of all the specifications and the prices from variants from other companies which it considers close to the product you select or browse.

Categorization of Items As Flipkart deals with a variety of products, it has to categorize the items accordingly so that the user has to spend the minimum time on deciding the product and checking out. For this Flipkart has selected on this categorization which is there on its website.

It makes the life of the customer easy and makes Flipkart climb up the preference ladder of the customers. Add to Compare and Preorder There is also a checkbox on each and every product on display that enables the user to compare the varieties of products that are close to the existing choice of the customer

Also one of the things is to Preorder an item before it is launched or is just about to be launched. This also gives an edge to Flipkart over its competitors. As per the steps explained above, the final analysis is as follow Compare: Items belonging to the same category can be compared side by side. Maximum of 4 items can be compared at a time. Eg We can compare four mobile handsets belonging to the different companies. Add to Cart: A collection of items intended for purchase are added to cart after browsing through all categories of items. The cart is billed when we checkout from the shopping area of the website. Preorder or Forthcoming option: These items are soon to be released and can be pre-booked with Flipkart. The order is fulfilled on the day of the official release launch. Order placement: Overall process of order placement is quite seamless in case of Flipkart which gives it a competitive edge over its peers and helps in repeat business.

INSIGHTS
Simplicity of design leads to return business as the easier it is for a person to browse through a website, the more prone is he/she to stay and surf and ultimately end up purchasing. For e-commerce sites, display plays an extremely important role as not only is that the first point of contact between the customer and the organization but also

because online customers can initially be lured by appealing to their sense of vision only. If a site offers greater options than they increase the attractiveness for a customer.

CONCLUSION
Due to intelligent design, easy user interface and seamless movement across website, Flipkart has become quite popular and has been able to develop a large customer base. Hassle free order placement procedure also gives it a decent competitive edge over its competitors.

CHAPTER 3 PAYMENT METHODS AT FLIPKART (By Pranav Bharadwaj 211171) INTRODUCTION

Payment has been one of the most important elements in defining any business, but especially in the case of e-commerce sites. This is because payment over internet has been considered both highly convenient and highly risky. Thus, for an e-commerce site it is very important to raise the former, while limiting the latter. There werent many payment options available during early phases of e-commerce industry and were limited to online wire transfers or direct deposit. However, within the past decade, e-commerce has grown exponentially. As a result of this, now there are various types of ecommerce payment methods available online. Flipkart with its inception in 2007 brought about a change in the world of Indian ecommerce. The major reason that set them apart from their competitors and enable them to capture the Indian market was their introduction of cash on delivery concept into the Indian market. The Indian online shoppers are hesitant of transactions over Internet, and the cod system by Flipkart enabled them to gain much of the untapped market out there.

DATA COLLECTED/METHODS OF PAYMENT

Flipkarts various payment methods include credit card, debit card, net banking, e-gift voucher, and the major of all Cash on Delivery. To pay using a credit card, the customer needs to enter the card number, expiry date, three-digit CVV number). After entering these details, the page gets redirected to the bank's page for entering the online 3D secure password. To pay using a debit card, the customer needs to enter need the card number, expiry date, three-digit CVV number. It then, gets redirected to the bank's secure page for entering the online password to complete the payment. The C-o-D (Cash On Delivery) option allows the customer to pay cash at the time of actual delivery of the product at the doorstep, without requiring to make

any advance payment. The cash-on-delivery model of Flipkart is proving to be of great significance since credit card and net banking penetration is very low in India.
Another option Flipkart has is Net banking. It allows customers to conduct financial

transactions on a secure website operated by the institution, which can be a retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society. To access this facility, a customer having personal Internet access must register with the institution for the service, and set up some password (under various names) for customer verification. Financial institutions now routinely allocate customer numbers (also under various names), whether or not customers intend to access their online banking facility. Customer numbers will also not be the same as any debit or credit card issued by the financial institution to the customer. E-gift voucher is simply a voucher that can be given to a person online for a certain value and the person can avail goods worth the amount from the site the voucher is for. Flipkart has recently added a prepaid Wallet feature to its e-commerce platform that allows shoppers to store money on the site and use it to purchase items, without having to reach for their credit card for each transaction

ANALYSIS
C-o-D system became majorly famous not only because Flipkart used the hesitancy of Indian customers as an opportunity but also because of its conformity to on-time delivery. People have started using the pre-paid facilities more than before now, due to the credibility that Flipkart has earned by providing excellent customer service over the years. However, Cash-on-delivery option still comprises 60% of Flipkarts orders majorly from tier II cities. Many competitors like infibeam.com, bookadda.com, uread.com etc. are offering better discounts, which are splitting the consumer base.

INSIGHTS

Payment as an avenue can be continuously innovated upon and these innovations go a long way towards renewing the customer interest and trust in the site. Payment is very closely linked to security, especially for the Indian customer, and thus it is important for any organization to ensure that their payment systems not only impart but also actually provide a high level of security.

Often payment is the major bridge that turns a browser into a customer, and for this very reason any organization that has a wide variety of payment options has greater chances of attracting customers of all types.

CONCLUSIONS
Thus Flipkart has today managed to gain the position it is at today because of its ability to understand the Indian customers. It was the first company to effectively turn a constraint into an opportunity. Thus, not only has Flipkart ensured that it captures the large market available, but it has also constantly innovated to keep its customer base growing.

CHAPTER 4 SECURITY AT FLIPKART (By Vaibhav Jain- 211155) INTRODUCTION

Security is a major concern for any business. It is important for all organisations to be secure in their activities. For the very same reason is security an important issue at ecommerce sites, especially in light of online payment transactions. In addition to this security with respect to hacking of data, altering of information, spreading of viruses etc. are also some of the ways in which the security of a company maybe breached and thus all organizations need to safeguard themselves against these security threats. Flipkart has maintained security at all levels. Shopping at Flipkart is 100% safe. All Credit card and Debit card payments on Flipkart are processed through secure and trusted payment gateways managed by leading Indian banks. Flipkart uses latest 256-bit encryption technology to protect your card information while securely transmitting it to the Banks for processing the payment. Furthermore, the Banks ask a customer to enter an online password (also known as 3D Secure password) which acts as an additional layer of security for your card transaction. This 3D Secure password is not printed anywhere on the card and is known only to you, giving you the added assurance that only you can use your card to make purchases on the Internet. This makes your online transaction on Flipkart extremely safe and secure. You can be assured that Flipkart offers you the highest standards of security currently available on the internet so as to ensure that your shopping experience is private, safe and secure.

DATA COLLECTED
Modes of Payment Distribution

Flipkart accept all MasterCard, Visa and American Express Credit cards. They do not accept any international credit cards. Apart from Credit and Debit Cards, Flipkart accept payments by Internet Banking (covering 44 banks), Cash-on-Delivery, Equated Monthly Instalments (EMI), E-Gift Vouchers and Flipkart Wallet.

Flipkart stores the first 6 and last 4 digits of your card number in a secure and encrypted manner. The first 6 digits (also known as the Bank Identification Number) are used to identify the bank name and country where your card was issued. The first 6 and last 4 digits are together used for fraud detection and prevention purposes.Flipkart.com does not store/save any of your information. When you click on the Pay by Credit Card / Debit Card / Netbanking link, you are redirected to a Payment Gateway like www.ebs.in or www.ccavenue.com. All your details are processed through them and the only thing we receive is a transaction ID against your Order, as confirmation that payment has been received. All customer details get processed and verified by the Payment Gateway and their Credit Card Company / Bank. As far as how secure the Payment Gateways are, here are some details:

Payment Gateways are PCI DSS 1.1 Standards Compliant They are registered and authenticated by VeriSign, and use 128 bit SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)

They also implement the Verified By Visa and the MasterCard Secure Code Protocols

EBS uses seven-server architecture model that helps in better encryption of data which protects the clients information. All credit card authorization is done using the high-tech Axis, HDFC and Citibanks secure servers and the same is encrypted before it is transmitted over the Internet to the Acquiring Banks. Additionally EBS servers are behind security firewalls to ensure maximum protection of our customers information. This guarantees that your information is inaccessible to any third party. EBS uses the best industry-standard VeriSign Technology, which ensures the security of the data

CCAvenue uses secure servers throughout and adopts stringent security measures to ensure that sensitive information such as customers personal details is protected. Customers enter all their personal information and Credit Card details on ICICIs EPayments (Payseal) and Citibanks secure servers and the same is encrypted before it is transmitted over the Internet to the Acquiring Banks. Additionally Avenues server is behind security firewalls to ensure maximum protection of your customers information. This should allay all fears of paying online. Most of the customers do in fact pay online (as opposed to Cheque / DD / Money Order) and in the past two years that Flipkart has been up, they have had not one instance of fraud or misuse of details. Online payment is safe. Payment gateways are secure.

ANALYSIS
Leading online retailer Flipkart has received certification of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard 2.0, a leading security standard for payment card processing. This means the companys proprietary technology and platform, stores and processes data are in a secured environment pre-empting the risk of data theft and fraud. The certification has been awarded by SISA Information Security, a qualified security assessor from PCI Security Standards Council after an extensive independent audit. Flipkart has also launched a Save Card feature on its technology platform through which users can save and invoke the details of an existing credit or debit card in their account, thus doing away with the additional step of typing in card information for every transaction. According to Mekin Maheswari, President (Technology), Flipkart, with more transactions happening online, it has become extremely important to be able to offer a trust-worthy and secure payment environment. Flipkart has always focused on technology that can make the platform for e-commerce not only easier but safer as well. Shopping at Flipkart is 100% safe. All Credit card and Debit card payments on Flipkart are processed through secure and trusted payment gateways managed by leading Indian banks.

INSIGHTS/ DISCUSSION
As E-commerce and M-commerce prosper in todays time, the internet security threat regarding online payments is increasing significantly. Transactions over the internet are prime attractions for hackers and malware spreaders. Getting credit card numbers and bank details online have caused many users to experience problems that wouldnt have been there if online payment wasnt targeted as a prime mode of hacking and entertainment. According to a Secure Test, their test regarding website security and internet purchasing showed that more than 100 websites in the UK had security flaws. They didnt handle customer details seemingly well and their databases werent secured with high encryption. Currently the idea of ethical hacking is increasing, this is when hackers look into holes available in websites and enter them. Nikes website had a security hole like this which caused a hacker to purchase goods that valued more than $60,000. These portals and errors in websites cause problems when it comes to internet shopping and takes a toll on the freedom of people who like to shop on the internet using their mobiles on PCs but are worried due to the high risks that have placated the internet. The use of credit cards is convenient but also dangerous. Many websites dont encrypt customers passwords or card numbers and they cause trouble as in case a hacker hacks into the information he wont even have to decrypt the data to access it, anything and everything that he wants would be easily accessible and visible to him.

CONCLUSION
Flipkart is a safe and secure shopping store. In fact according to Alexa it is the 44th most popular site in India so you know it's trustworthy if so many people are using it. See http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/flipkart.c In June they raised $20 million in funding from international venture capital firms so they are a very legitimate site with big pockets. You've probably even seen their TV commercials lately. Flipkart also has a 30 day replacement guarantee where if you notify Flipkart of any problems, damages, or defects within 30 days, they will issue you a brand new replacement at no extra cost. If you still have your doubts, then use their cash on delivery option and you don't have to pay until you receive the items. Shipping is also free on orders of over 299.

ORDER TRACKING (By Aanchal Mahajan- 211160)

INTRODUCTION
Procurement at Flipkart is not just about getting products which are best in quality, but also from the correct source and in the least possible time to make sure that the customers and happy and satisfied. Also, Warehousing at Flipkart is where these products are inspected with a fine toothcomb .After all Flipkart has a promise to keep to provide original products with original warranty. One of the most interesting things about Flipkart is that it ships around 30,000 items everyday which is equal to 20 items a minute. Flipkart works on the principle of Never promise something that you dont have. This means that Flipkart maintains its own inventory and at all times keeps a live status of the inventory from its suppliers and sells only those items that it has or generally keeps in its warehouses. Therefore, order tracking becomes very convenient for both the company as well as the customers.

DATA COLLECTED/ METHODOLOGY

Integrated System Flipkart has an integrated system.

Order placed by the customer on the website Order downloaded in the Order Management System Inventory allocation Packaging and Invoice generation Shipment Delivery

As soon as the customer places an order, the order gets downloaded in the companys Order Management System (OMS). After this the inventory from the already available stock id allocated against the order. Here the allocated inventory is packed and the invoice and the shipping labels are generated. The order is then dispatched from the warehouse to the nearest hub.

From the nearest hub, the order gets delivered to the customer. For every order the company uses a unique tracking ID which it also gives to its customers. This ID helps in providing all relevant information about the order to the company as well as the customer. This unique ID provides information such as the date on which the order was placed, the date and time of shipment, the mode of payment selected by the customer, the address where the order has to be delivered etc.

Order Confirmation As soon as a customer places an order on the website, the company sends an order confirmation email to the registered email id of the customer.

The confirmation email contains all relevant information about the product for which the order has been placed. For e.g. - the estimated shipment date, the estimated delivery date, the quantity ordered and the total price that includes the price of the product and the shipment charges, if any. The most important part of this confirmation email is the Order ID.

It gives a unique order ID to the customer for every order that the customer places so that he/she is able to track the order conveniently.

Shipment: As soon as the company ships the product, it immediately sends a shipment email to the customer so as to keep the customer in the loop and ensure that he/she is well informed about the order status.

This shipment email contains all the relevant details regarding the shipment process. For e.g.the mode of payment, estimated time for delivery, shipment address, a shipment tracking ID

through which the customer can track the status of the order and also, the email contains a link where the customer can trace the shipment.

Delivery: As soon as the actual delivery is made, the company sends another email regarding the delivery of the product to the customer as an official intimation of the successful delivery of the order. The company also mentions the link where the customer can give its feedback about the entire process or the product.

Summary of the order At any point of time, if the customer wishes to check the status of its order or in other words, track its order, it can do so using the tracking ID provided by the company.

This

tracking

ID

provides

all

the

required

information

regarding

the

order.

For e.g. - In the above picture, The company on 15th September sent the product to the Bangalore Warehouse at 10 PM. On the same date, the product from the Bangalore warehouse was dispatched, to be sent to the Delhi warehouse of Flipkart at 10:44 PM. On 16th September, the Delhi warehouse received the product at 6:13 PM

On the same date; the product got dispatched to be sent to the nearest hub (Okhla in this case) at 11:16 PM. On 17th September, the Okhla hub received the order at 7:57 AM and further dispatched it to be sent to the customers address at 10:25 AM. On the same date, at 2:58 PM the product is delivered at the customers address. Another important point here is that the company in its summary also mentions the person who receives the product at the customers address. (For e.g. - In this case it was the customers mother who received the product.)

DATA ANALYSIS

Tracking ID helps n viewing the summary at all times:

Flipkart provided its customers a very important facility of checking the order summary at any point of time after placing the order. This service not only keeps the customers happy and satisfied but also reduces the workload for the company.

Order conformity at regular intervals: Flipkart believes in keeping its customers well informed about their respective orders. It sends them regular updates via emails, smses and phone calls at the time when the order is placed and confirmed by the customer, once when the shipment is dispatched and once at the time of actual delivery.

Including feedback to provide greater transparency: In its delivery confirmation mail, Flipkart also sends a feedback form to its customers which helps maintaining the transparency. This also helps the company in getting direct feedback from all its customers since customer service is one aspect where the company doesnt compromise.

KEY INSIGHTS:
It offers greater control to organizations: Flipkart can at any point of time check the status of the order by and all relevant details regarding the order using the tracking ID. This infuses a sense of control in an organization since in the absence of this service; the delivery staff may take undue advantage of the company.

Key factor for enhancing customer experiences: Any organization which facilitates online retailing must provide this order tracking service to its customers. This service is the key for customer delight and satisfaction.

Regular updates reduce unnecessary queries: When the company regularly updates its customers about their order status, it not only keeps its customers well informed but all reduces the hassles of answering unnecessary queries for itself.

CONCLUSION:
Through this integrated order tracking system, Flipkart not only keeps its customers happy and satisfied but also continues to build a strong base of loyal customers for itself by maintaining transparency and high degree of customer service.

Any company doing online retailing is incomplete without the order tracking system. Flipkart has managed to perform its operations effectively and efficiently through this integrated order tracking process.

Chapter 6 | Related Services at Flipkart.com (By Vishesh Kalia-211166) INTRODUCTION

Apart from all the aspects discussed in the previous sections, there are still some more value added services being offered by Flipkart that differentiates itself from its competitors. In the world of dot coms there is cut throat competition and every company is trying to carve out a niche for itself. Flipkart being an old player in this eRetailing business has made many efforts to give itself an edge and also charge a premium from the customers without hurting them by the price. The quality of service is by far the best with respect to the competition it has.

METHODOLOGY USED
In the methodology, we have visited the site and analyzed the various components and features by experiencing them first hand. We have created an account and skimmed through the site to assess the value added or related services. Apart from the hands-on methodology, we have also searched the blogs and newspaper articles on innovation and business processes of Flipkart.

ANALYSIS
We have analyzed the various related services extended by Flipkart to its users. Its basic aim is to bridge the gap between them and the customers. This is done by reducing the order placement time and expediting the checkout process. Some other plusses are the affiliate and partner services in addition to the brand building and query handling via blogs and hassle free shopping. Some of the related services at Flipkart are as follows: Cancellations and Returns There is a very customer friendly return and cancellation policy at Flipkart. There is a 30 Day Replacement Guarantee is applicable to all physical products sold on Flipkart. If you

have received a damaged or defective product, you can get a replacement within 30 days of delivery at no extra cost. While damaged or defective clothes and footwear are covered under the 30 Day Replacement Guarantee, you can initiate an exchange under the 30 Day Exchange Policy if you are not satisfied with the product or the fit Product specific policies:

Category Clothing and footwear Flyte eBooks Flyte Music downloads Others

Defective or Damaged 30 Day Replacement Not applicable Not applicable 30 Day Replacement

Other Reasons 30 Day Exchange 30 Day Cancellation & Refund Not applicable No return

Items should be returned in the original condition you had received them. Flipkart does not accept returns in certain instances: Damages and misuse to the prouct Incidental damage due to malfunctioning of product Any consumable item which has been used or installed Products with tampered or missing serial / UPC numbers Flyte music downloads and eBooks Innerwear, lingerie, socks and clothing freebies Any damage / defect which is not covered under the manufacturer's warranty Any product that is returned without all original packaging and accessories, including the box, manufacturer's packaging if any, and all other items originally included with the product(s) delivered

Once you request the cancellation of item(s) in your order, it will take us a maximum of 1-2 business days to cancel the order and initiate a refund. You will be notified of the same.

If the refund mode is Flipkart Wallet, the refunded amount will be made available immediately.

However, if you opt for having the money transferred back to the source of transaction, it may take up to 7-10 business days for the respective banks to process the refund. Affiliate for Flipkart

The Flipkart affiliate program is a great way for its users to earn commissions by placing product banners or links on your website to refer users to the Flipkart.com website. They can earn up to 15% every time a user clicks on the banner/link and makes a purchase on Flipkart. The different modes by which the affiliates can put the information related to Flipkart on their respective sites are as follows:

Banners can be created for individual products across all categories. Easy to generate, and customizable over a wide range of colours and dimensions, it is the simplest way to link to Flipkart, and add compelling content to your website.

Links can be created for any product listed on flipkart.com.. Similar to banners, links too can be generated and customised according to your needs. Buttons are similar to links, and may be used to connect individual products from flipkart.com to your website. You may also use the Search Bar to browse through flipkart.com products right from your website.

Flipkart.com pays commission to affiliates depending on category of product sold via their website. The referral rates are stated below:
Books

6%
Mobiles & Accessories

1%
Cameras

2%
Computers

0.5%
Apparels

8%
Sports & Fitness

8%
Games & Consoles

1%
Audio & MP3 Players

1%
Personal & Health Care

1%
Home & Kitchen

1%

Software

3%
TV & Video

0.5%
Office Supplies

4%
Digital

10%
Fragrance

4%
Watches

8%
Leather & Travel Accessories

8%
Health & beauty

4%
Toys

4%
Babycare

4%
Movies & TV Shows

4%
Footwear

8% The earnings from this mode to the affiliates are reflected in their accounts within 2-3 business days and also when the order is actually delivered. This is done because, if the earnings are reflected as soon as the order is placed, they may have to undergo the process again if the order is cancelled by the user. The amount reflects as soon as it reaches to a level of INR 2500.

Address Books and Saved Cards The main aim of Flipkart or any other venture is to provide a fast clearance system and checkout procedure. Flipkart has made it possible by expediting the two most integral processes payment and user addresses. In the Address Books, we can save the addresses of the most frequent people we gift from Flipkart. For eg, there is a very dear family friend that we gift from Flipkart, we dont want to enter the address of that friend again and again. So we save his address and contact details in the address book of Flipkart and in the process make our process even faster. Similarly, for the Saved Cards system there is an option on Flipkart to save the card details i.e. only the card number and card name holder. Due to security issues the CVV number as well as the PIN number is not stored in Flipkart database. Blog Flipkart also maintains a blog by the name http://blog.flipkart.com/. It is a sercie that provides a direct customer contact for Flipkart. All the issues, concerns and queries are handled there. New initiatives in technology, innovation and improving customer experience are also discussed in these blogs. It bridges the gap between the customer and the supplier which is Flipkart in this case. Wishlist There can be a set of items that you want but do not have the sufficient funds or the time to order at present. In that scenario, Flipkart has created an option of Wishlist where in you can just add the items into your account and shop and pay for them later. It does away with the effort of finding those items again and going through a long procedure.

Flyte Download Manager for PC and Mobiles Flyte Download Manager is proprietary software from Flipkart for downloading and using music and eBooks. The first and the foremost step is to download the software from Flipkart.com on your personal computer(PC) or mobile. The various steps involved in downloading the songs are as follows: 1. Go to your 'MP3 Library' on Flipkart.com. Choose the 'Flyte Download Manager' option from the Download Options drop-down.

2. Select all songs you wish to download using check-boxes. Click on the 'Download Selected' button in your 'MP3 Library'. This will download a file with the .fkdm extension. 'FKDM' is an encrypted file that contains information about the tracks to be downloaded.

3. Once the '.fkdm' file has downloaded, click on the file to open it with Flyte Download Manager. Your downloads will be automatically initiated in the Flyte Download Manager.

INSIGHTS
Related services are imperative for differentiating a company from the herd of ecommerce websites in the market. Engaging the channel partners in the business model can help an organization succeed, especially if it is an e-Retailing firm like Flipkart. The checkout and the browsing for users should be made hassle free for any ecommerce website. Innovation is also a very important aspect for an ecommerce website. In the case of Flipkart, we see that it has come up with an application called Flyte Download Manager.

CONCLUSION
We can see that Flipkart has made many efforts to differentiate itself from the competitors and this has paid it rich dividends in the form of customer loyality and brand equity of the firm. Flipkart has resorted to innovation, supply chain efficiency, easing out the checkout process and improving the customer experience of the end user.

CHAPTER 7 CRM AT FLIPKART (By Srishti Magan- 21143) INTRODUCTION

Customer Relationship Management refers to the model used for managing a company's interactions with its current as well as future customers. It involves the use of technology for organizing, synchronizing and automation of all areas of business, namely, sales, marketing, customer service and technical support. It has many variations from sales force automation (mainly contact management system for tracking and recording every stage in the sales process for each prospective client, from initial contact to final disposition), to marketing ( mainly tracking and measuring campaigns over multiple channels, such as email, search, social media etc. by tracking clicks, responses etc.) to the most popular customer service and support ( mainly creating, assigning and managing requests made by customers, such as call center software which help direct customers to agents as well as identifying and rewarding loyal customers).In addition to this in cases of a small business CRM may just include a contact manager system which integrates e-mail, documents, faxes etc. Today the CRM philosophy and strategy has shifted to encompass social networks and user communities. Consequently, some CRMs have developed to coordinate with social media sites like Twitter, Facebook etc. to track and communicate with customers who share opinions and experiences about their company product and services. The leaders in providing CRM software have been SAP AG, Oracle, and Salesforce.com etc. The latest trend in CRM has been for its vendors to offer subscription-based web tools (cloud computing) and software as a service (SaaS). Salesforce.com was the first company to provide enterprise applications through a web browser, and has maintained its leadership position. Traditional providers have recently moved into the cloud-based market via acquisitions of smaller providers. Flipkart, as mentioned above, is one of the most famous e-commerce organizations today and its success has been the result of the efficiency and effectiveness of all of its

services, but most importantly because of its ability to understand its customers expertly. Flipkart was the first company to use the hesitancy displayed by Indian customers while shopping online as an opportunity rather than a constraint and thus came about their option of "Cash on Delivery". Similarly, its display options, related services, delivery systems all are designed around the module of appeasing its customers. It can be easily said that Flipkart very strongly believes in the age old adage that 'customer is the king'. Both the founders are ardent believers of customer service and have structured the company by focusing heavily on their customers. In fact all their advertisements and taglines focus towards reinforcing this aspect only, e.g. taglines like "No Kidding, No worries"; "Shopping ka naya address'' etc.

DATA COLLECTION
The data presented below is just a collection of the various services offered by Flipkart under different domains. All these have been discussed in detail in the previous chapters. DIMENSION ORDER PLACEMENT USE OF CRM Recommendations like others who bought this also bought to assist in the buying process. PAYMENT EMI options as per the credit card of the individual customer, options to store multiple addresses at the time of payment. SECURITY Confirmation at mobile number to ensure order placement. ORDER TRACKING SMS and E-mail alerts, Phone call on the day of delivery. RELATED SERVI CES Newsletters, Wishlist (with option to make it public or keep it private).

ANALYSIS
As per the data collected, following analysis could be drawn. Flipkart had made customer relation and management the domain area for exercising CRM. The major application of CRM however can be summarized in the following steps: 1. Customer Demographic Analysis Herein customer behavior is modeled to understand their needs and respond to them accordingly. Flipkart uses browse history, bought history, and wishlist of a customer to understand their buying patterns and preferred choices. In this manner Flipkart is able to group people with similar interests together. This helps as an individual belonging to a group may buy a product that others havent bought and Flipkart can recommend the same to others. This boosts sales along with easing the purchase for the customers. 2. Customer Knowledge Discovery This is essentially an extension of customer demographic analysis. Flipkart uses the analysis of consumer habits to come up with recommendations for them (as mentioned above). Flipkart, at present, has one of the most amazing recommendation systems that makes product discovery almost seamless. CRM helps in predicting users intent and offers help in the purchasing process by suggesting products similar to the one bought, other products bought by other consumers who bought the same product, or exciting customers through attractive newsletters etc.

INSIGHTS
CRM groups people with similar patterns together and makes it easier for organizations to target customers. CRM keeps details centralized and thus increases productivity by reducing process times.

 CRM helps in identification of performance hotspots i.e. it finds out which areas attract the most customers and then enables organizations to improve and innovate on these areas. CRM helps in assessing past behavior to enhance present sale experience, as in the case of Flipkart where it provides the recommended product list.

CONCLUSION
Flipkart, as an organisation, has reached the level it is today because it has ensured that it worked for its customers. All its services are aimed towards customer satisfaction and the effective utilization of CRM has only enhanced its overall performance.

CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSION
Thus as per our study of the order fulfillment process, the following is a summary of the steps involved in the process and what Flipkart does that sets it apart and provides it the expertise that enables it to enjoy the position it is as today. STEPS IN THE PROCESS Order Placement WHAT FLIPKART DOES Categorization and sub-categorization of products, Cataloguing as per most viewed etc. Payment Different modes of payment including the famous C-o-D, new innovations just made . Security Secured Payment Gateways, No fraud till date Order Tracking Regular Alerts, Phone calls and Tracking ID for anytime summary. Related Services Wishlist, Add to Compare, Blogs, Saved Address etc. Customer Relationship Management Great Recommendations, Customer

Knowledge Discovery.

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION
As mentioned in the introduction, order fulfillment process is an important service for any organization. The contribution of the research has been as follow:
The understanding, through actual observation, that any service in an organization is a result of the collective working of all domains from marketing to finance to logistics etc. Thus, no single domain can be regarded as the main area in a business and ignoring any single domain can lead to ineffective performance As for Flipkart, the research helped us pin point the reason for its success as a culmination of 3 main factors, namely innovation, high adherence to quality and customer oriented business model.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Following were some of the limitations faced:
The data collected was based on observation and lack of any concrete figures made the analysis subjective rather than objective. The analysis was done majorly from a customers point of view Any data about the organization was gathered from secondary sources.

REFERENCES
The data has been collected from internet sources shown as follow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart http://www.flipkart.com/s/privacypolicy http://www.flipkart.com/s/paymentsecurity http://www.flipkart.com/s/help/payments http://blog.flipkart.com/?p=490 http://www.flipkart.com/s/press