ABSTRACT

In the last two decade, world has witness an incredible growth of Internet and has
changed the way organization conduct business. It has provided a new option for
conducting business named e-commerce. It is basically selling and buying through
internet using computers.

The purpose of this study is to first understand the e-commerce and its impacts.
Further understanding of logistics and its role in e-commerce. A case study of
Amazon and Flipkart India is then done to explore their business strategies,
operations, logistics functioning etc. Cross analysis of Amazon and Flipkart in terms
of market share, revenue etc. is done next. A SWOT and PORTER analysis is then
performed based on it. It helped in coming to the conclusion about future strategies
needed by both companies to remain competitive in market.

To reach this purpose, a qualitative research approach was used where case study
on Amazon India is conducted. The data is collected through books, Internet and
interviews.

The finding of our analysis shows that despite increased revenue and sales both
Amazon and Flipkart still faces many challenges such as IT security - vulnerability to
hacking, low margins due heavy discounting, loopholes in distribution system etc.
Especially during festival season when sales are usually at peak many complain
such as late delivery, website non-functioning occurs. This seriously impact the
company image and raises doubt on its operational capabilities.

In the conclusions, the steps taken by both the companies such as new payment
gateways etc is discussed which are taken to counter some of the major threats that
are affecting both the companies such as heavy losses due to discount, logistics
inefficiency, expansion to smaller cities etc.

1
 Table of Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background ................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Motivation ..................................................................................................... 3

1.3 Purpose .......................................................................................................... 4

1.4 Thesis outline ............................................................................................... 4

2. Methodology ................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Research methods ......................................................................................... 5

2.2 Research approach......................................................................................... 6

2.3 Limitations ................................................................................................... 6

3. Literature Review .......................................................................................... 7

3.1 E-commerce ................................................................................................. 7

3.2 E-commerce business categories ................................................................. 9

3.3 Impact of e-commerce ............................................................................... 11

3.3.1 Social ...................................................................................................... 11

3.3.2 Supply chain management ...................................................................... 12

3.4 Factors affecting e-commerce ................................................................... 14

3.5 Government policies ................................................................................ 15

3.6 Logistics .................................................................................................... 18

3.6.1 Overview ................................................................................................ 18

3.6.2 Logistics evolution ................................................................................. 21

3.6.3 Handling and order processing .............................................................. 25

3.6.4 Transportation ........................................................................................ 28

3.6.5 Outsourcing............................................................................................ 28

2
4.Case one – Amazon India ............................................................................ 30

4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 30

4.2 Competition .............................................................................................. 31

4.3 Services .................................................................................................... 33

4.4 Business process and model .................................................................. 34

4.5 Amazon logistics structure and operation ............................................. 35

4.5.1 Ordering ............................................................................................. 35

4.5.2 Inventory management ...................................................................... 36

4.5.3 Order execution ................................................................................ 37

4.5.4 Shipping ........................................................................................... 38

4.5.5 Tracking ........................................................................................... 38

4.5.6 Payments .......................................................................................... 38

4.5.7 Order cancellation and substitution ................................................. 39

4.5.8 Return policy ................................................................................... 39

5. Case Two - Flipkart India ....................................................................... 41

5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 41

5.2 Business model .................................................................................... 42

5.3 Flipkart logistics structure and operations .......................................... 42

6. Analyses ................................................................................................. 52

6.1 Cross analyses between Amazon and Flipkart .................................... 52

6.2 SWOT Analysis ................................................................................... 57

6.3 PORTER Analysis ............................................................................... 63

7. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 66

Works Cited ................................................................................................ 67

List of figures & tables .............................................................................. 69

3
1. Introduction

This section gives an overview about e-commerce background and its development
over the years

1.1 Background
Electronic commerce or commonly known as E-commerce in simple term is buying,
selling and exchange of services over the internet. In the last decade with increased
penetration of internet and smartphones around the globe, e-commerce technology
has developed quickly which made people life easier. E-commerce mainly B2C
(business to consumer) makes the most part of e-commerce in today’s world where
seller can sell good to online customer via internet.

During 1960, primitive computers networks were used to conduct electronic

transactions in business. Using Electronic Data interchange (EDI), a company’s
computer system could share business documents such as invoices, delivery
confirmations etc. with other company’s computer. The main problem in the
beginning was the different document formatting standard used by each company.
In 1979, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) introduced ASC X12, a
universal standard for sharing business documents over electronic network. In 1982,
transmission from ARPAnet switched over to Transmission Control Protocol and
Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), the technology that powers the modern Internet today.

In 1980, individual computers were mostly used at research universities. It was used
for sending e-mails, sharing research documents etc. over networks like BITNET.
For home personal users, CompuServe was popular for providing tools like e-mails
and chat rooms. It added a service called Electronic Mail which users can purchase
from service provider called 110 online. It was not very successful initially but it laid
foundation for the e-commerce we know today. In 1990, a researcher named Tim
Berners-Lee at the European Organization for Nuclear Research proposed a
hypertext-based web of information in which a user could navigate using a simple
interface called a browser. He called it the "Worldwide Web".

In 1991, ban on commercial businesses operating over the internet was lifted by the
National Science. It opened the way for Web-based e-commerce.

4
In 1993, the National Centre for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) introduced
the first web browser named Mosaic. Similarly, Netscape 1.0 was released in 1994
which included an important security protocol called Secure Socket Layer (SSL). It
encrypted messages on both the sending and receiving side of an online
transaction. It ensured encryption of personal information like names, addresses
and credit card numbers when they passed over the Internet

First third party services for processing online credit card sales started appearing in
year 1994. In 1995, Verisign started developing digital IDs, or certificates, that
verified the identity of online businesses. It focused mainly to certifying proper
encryption for a Web site's e-commerce servers.

The history of e-commerce is incomplete without Amazon and eBay which

transformed e-commerce in the mid-1990. In July 1995, Jeff Bezos packed the first
book ever sold on Amazon.com from his Seattle garage. Within its first 30 days of
business, the self-proclaimed "Earth's largest bookstore" sold books to online
shoppers in all 50 U.S. states and 45 countries.

Amazon began gripping into a powerful new e-commerce market. Books were
cheap to ship and easy to order directly from publishers. Publishers had already
created vast digital archives of their titles on CD-ROM, something that could be
uploaded to a Web site. Amazon.com set the standard for a customer-oriented e-
commerce Web site. Users could search available titles by keyword, author or
subject. They could browse books by category and even get personalized
recommendations. They could also purchase books quickly and securely with the
patented "one-click" checkout system. But the most popular Amazon.com feature
has always been the reader review option. On Amazon, any registered member can
write and publish a book review. And other users can rank each review, creating a
hierarchy of top Amazon reviewers. Amazon's steep discounts on many books has
contributed to the site's popularity.

Logistics plays vital role in e-commerce. If the goods sold do not delivered on time
or in good condition, customer will again go back to retail stores. Every successful
company in this business put great emphasis to make logistics segment work
efficiently. Logistics include procurement, supplier relationships shipping, invoicing,
inventory control, warehousing, account payable, account receivable etc.

5
In developed nations such as US & Germany, e-commerce arrived early and
matured soon. In developing nation such as India, it is still in early stage and facing
a lot of problem specially related to logistics such as high delivery cost, time in
transit, package tracking etc.

E-commerce is growing rapidly around the globe. Convenience of shopping at home

with competitive prices and quick delivery has made a lot of people switch from
traditional shopping methods to e-commerce. With growing acceptability of online
payments, revenue is growing five to seven time every year in India. Shopping via
smartphones is proving to be game changer. It is estimated that around 60% of the
total e-commerce sales are generated by mobile devices and tablets and it is
increasing every year rapidly. The e-commerce industry in India is likely to be worth
USD 38 billion by 2016 end, a 67% jump over the USD 23 billion revenues for 2015,
as per industry body Assocham.

In this thesis, I have chosen Amazon and Flipkart in India, two of the biggest e-
commerce companies in India today as our research topic.

(https://www.researchgate.net), (https://www.worldwidejournals.com)

1.2 Motivation
India is home to 1.2 billion population and is a developing nation. With GDP growth
around 7.5%, it is one of fastest growing economy in the world. The middle class in
India is around 35 million which is bigger than some country total population. They
have purchasing power and that make it one of the biggest market for e-commerce
industry. Amazon, a US based e-commerce company and home grown Flipkart are
fighting to get larger share of market. With some other market players such as
Snapdeal, it is one of most competitive market in the world. The population under 30
makes around 65% population and Internet penetration is still very low in India, so
the scope for growth is immense.

The two companies Amazon and Flipkart operate in India with different strategies.
Logistics which plays a key role in e-commerce is also handled differently in both
companies. This is the reason for choosing Amazon and Flipkart and to explore their
functioning.

6
1.3 Purpose
The purpose of this thesis is to explain Amazon and Flipkart (India) working,
business model, logistics structure etc and to perform SWOT & PORTER analysis
based on it.

The main aim of this thesis.

1. To explain working of Amazon and Flipkart and its strategies.

2. To do SWOT and PORTER analysis of both.
3. Comparison of Amazon and Flipkart.

1.4 Thesis Outline

This thesis consists of seven parts. Section one provides an overview of e-
commerce, its purpose and motivation. Section two provides methodology used,
research approach and limitation of the thesis. Section three gives literature
overview about e-commerce, its impacts and also explains logistics. Section four
provide detail literature review about Amazon as a case study. Section five gives
detail literature about Flipkart as a case study. Section six deals with the analysis of
both the companies by using SWOT and PORTER analysis methods. It also
provides cross comparison in term of business model, market share etc. Section
seven provides the final conclusion of the thesis and its implication for practitioners
& future studies. Last section presents all the work cited, list of figures and tables
that we have use in the thesis.

7
2. Research Methodology

2.1 Research Methods

The two main type of research methods are quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative research is a formal, objective, systematic process in which numerical

data are used to obtain information about the world. (https://www.researchgate.net)

Qualitative research is specifically suitable to obtain an in-depth knowledge of

reasons and motivations. It provides insight of the problem and at the same moment
it generates ideas and hypotheses for further quantitative research. The sample
collecting methods include group discussion, interviews and observation and sample
size is relatively small.

Quantitative Research is the pursuit of knowledge of objectivity and universality

according to Bernard (2002).

Quantitative research is used to evaluate the problem by generating statistical data.

It evaluates opinions, past data and other variables and derive result from a larger
sample size. The data collection method include online surveys, website,
observations, interviews, past result etc.

Books & Interviews

Data
Collection
Internet

Data Analysis

Conclusion

Figure 1. The data collection process

8
The main differences between both these research methods are shown in Table 1:

Qualitative research Quantitative research

Subjectivity Objectivity
First collection of data and then analysis Data collection and analysis
simultaneously
Aim is to understand Prediction
No hypothesis Hypothesis
Small sample size Bigger

Table 1- Difference between Qualitative and Quantitative research

(Source - http://www.snapsurveys.com/qualitative-quantitative-research)

2.2 Research approach

In this thesis, we have taken qualitative approach. We focus on strategy applied by
Amazon in India. We use data from interviewees, past results of amazon and flipkart
but also the backgrounds information from websites. For quantitative research, we
didn’t have all the detail quantitative data plus we don’t have a hypothesis for the
thesis, therefore, we finally choose qualitative method as the research approach.

2.3 Limitations
The e-commerce as a whole is a big topic, we have narrow our focus to business
strategies implemented by Amazon and Flipkart in India. The factors such as people
will be avoided in this study. Such a focus has been chosen because factors of
people is more involved with human resources management.

9
3. Literature Review

Following an overview about the relevant literature for this work will be given.

3.1 E-commerce

The Internet started to become popular among the general public in 1994, it took
four years to develop security system such as HTTP and DSL, which increased
access and Internet speed. In 2000 a large number of companies in US and Europe
started their services in the World Wide Web. During this time, the general public
began to learn about it as process of buying and selling goods and services over
Internet using electronic payment methods using secure connections. The history of
ecommerce is incomplete without Amazon and EBay, which were among the first
Internet companies with facility of electronic transactions. By the end of 2001,
Business-to-Business (B2B) model form of ecommerce had around $700 billion in
transactions. E-commerce has emerged as one of the biggest Internet technology in
the last decade. The comfort of trading or facilitating services using Internet has
revolutionized the way shopping is done. The global growth chart is shown in Figure
2.

Figure 2 – B2C E-commerce sales growth worldwide

(Source - http://dazeinfo.com)

10
Market Size and Growth of e-Commerce in India:

India’s e-commerce market was worth about $3.8 Billion in the year 2009, it went up
to $12.6 Billion in 2013. In the year 2013, the e-retail segment was worth US$ 2.3
Billion. About 70 per cent of India’s e-commerce market is travel- related. India has
close to 10 Million online shoppers, and is growing at an estimated 30 per cent
CAGR vis-à-vis a global growth rate of 8 to 10per cent. The main reasons for its
growth are busy lifestyles, urban traffic congestion, lack of time for online shopping,
lower prices compared to brick and mortar retail driven by disintermediation and
reduced inventory and real estate costs, increased usage of online classified sites,
with more consumer buying and selling second-hand goods, evolution of the online
marketplace model with websites like Jabong.com, Flipkart, Snap deal, and In -
beam respectively.

According to Report by Avendus Capital, entitled “India Goes Digital”, the Indian e-
tailing industry is estimated to grow to Rs. 53,000 Crores ($11.8 Billion) in the sales,
a feat it has managed to achieve before its own target (2015).

A report recently published by the Boston Consulting Group also stated that online
retail in India could be an $84Billion industry by the year 2016 more than 10 times its
worth of the year 2010. The growth in Indian market is shown in Figure 3.

(https://www.worldwidejournals.com)

Figure 3 – E-commerce market growth in India

(Source - http://dazeinfo.com)

11
3.2 E-commerce business categories

There are four principal categories of e-commerce:

B2B (Business to Business) - It involves companies doing business with

each other. For example when a manufacturer sell to distributor or
wholesaler selling to retailer.

B2C (Business to Consumer) - It consists of companies selling to the

general public through websites, without needing any human interaction.
Example Amazon.

C2B (Consumer to Business) - In this model, consumers post a project

with a set budget online, and companies bid on the project. The consumer
reviews the bids and selects the company. It is similar to tender process

C2C (Consumer to Consumer) - This takes place through online ads,

forums where individuals can buy and sell their goods. Examples E-Bay.

Technologies

The e-commerce technologies include:

1. Mobile commerce
2. Electronic funds transfer
3. Supply chain management
4. Internet banking
5. Online transaction processing
6. Electronic data interchange
7. Inventory management systems
8. Automated data collection systems

E-commerce businesses include some or all of the following:

Direct sales of good through online shopping websites

Platform for third-party (business-to-consumer or consumer-to-consumer) to
do business.

12
Gathering demographic data through websites and social media. Marketing to
customer by e-mail or social media.
Electronic data interchange in business-to business. Launch of new
product by companies.

Transaction security

Security is a crucial part of any online transaction over the Internet. Customer will
lose confidence in e-business if its security is compromised and can damage
company image. For safe e-payments these are the important requirements:

1. Confidential – Accessibility to information should be available only to

authorized person. It should be secure during transmission.
2. Integrity – No alteration to information during the transmission over the
Internet.
3. Availability – Information should be available as per requirement within the
specific time limit.
4. Authenticity – A system should be in place to authenticate user before it
give access to the required information.
5. Non-Repudiabiity – It is protection against denial of payment or order. Once
a sender sends a message or recipient receives a message, they should not
be able to deny the message.
6. Encryption – Authorized user can only do Encryption and decryption of
information.
7. Auditability – Storage of data should be done in such a way that it can be
audited for integrity requirements.

Security Tools

1. Encryption – It is a very effective and practical way to secure the data

transmission over the network. Information sender encrypts the data using a
secret code and only specified receiver with the same or different secret
code can decrypt the information.
2. Digital Signature – It is an electronic signature authenticated through
encryption and password. It help in ensuring authenticity of information
3. Security Certificates – It is a unique digital id used to verify identity of a

10

13
 user or website.
4. Secure socket layer (SSL) – It is the most widely used protocol across the
industry. It fulfills the following security requirements:
Authentication
Encryption
Integrity
Non-reputability

In Internet browser where user type the website name “http” represents:
"http://" - With SSL
"http:/" – Without SSL

5. Secure hypertext transfer protocol – It act as an extension to HTTP with

additional features such as digital signature over the Internet. It acts as
additional feature to secure HTTP to provide security to end-users.
6. Secure electronic transaction – It is a secure protocol developed jointly by
MasterCard and Visa. It is the considered the best security protocol. It has
following elements:
Cardholder's digital wallet software – It allows cardholder to make
secure purchases online using funds in the mobile.
Merchant software – This software helps in secure communication
between customers and financial institutions.
Payment gateway server software – It provides automatic and
standard payment process and it also support processing of
merchant’s certificate request.
Certificate authority software – This software is used by financial
institution uses this software to issue digital certificates to
cardholders and merchants. It enables them to register their account
for agreements for safe e-commerce.

3.3 Impact of E-commerce

3.3.1 Social

The e-commerce has affected the society and economy in a large way. The success

11

14
of e-commerce has led to emergence to many other services such as online
banking, education, advertisement etc. Its rapidly growing business around the
globe reflects how big its impact on the society and economy. It leads to lower cost,
new employment opportunities and also improves the economic efficiency. Internet
shopping has provided value to customers as now they can find and buy the best
product in the market; compare prices in the global market to get the best value for
their money. E-commerce companies also provide the best level of service
compared to retail shopping, which earned them customer trust. In beginning people
were unsure about using their credit and debit card details online for payment on e-
commerce websites but with introduction of new IT services which are safe and
secure and new laws related to e-commerce, customers confidently started using e-
commerce websites.

Due to these factors, society has been affected by e-commerce

1. The importance of time has changed in today world. Customers today need
convenience and fast service. It has changed the way people do shopping.
2. Distance has become irrelevant because of e-commerce. Now customers
from rural part of the country are not required to go big city to purchase its
good.
3. Easy return policy has changed the customer perspective. Customer who
previously faced problem in offline retail stores to get back return or change
their products is attracted to e-commerce because of it.
4. Highly competitive pricing has helped in adding more and more customer
under e-commerce cloud.

3.3.2 Supply chain management

The companies have been long troubled on how to deliver supply chain
technologies benefits to customers. However, the emergence of e-commerce has
provided them a practical and effective way of delivering the benefits of the new
supply chain. E-commerce has the power to incorporate department of inter-
company and intra-company, which include physical, financial and information flow.
The physical flow improved the inventory management for companies. The
information flow has improved information processing and financial flow has allowed
companies to have more efficient payment gateways.

12

15
The other ways in which e-commerce affects the supply chain management is:

1.Cost Factor

E-commerce has enabled exchange of cargo documents electronically over the

Internet. It has allowed shipping firms to streamline documents by eliminating
traditional document delivery systems. It resulted in less time and made the process
easy and effective.

Companies with the use of e-commerce can reduce costs; streamline business
process and provide better customer service. Exchange of documents such as
freight invoices, shipping instruction etc. is done electronically, which resulted in
higher accuracy and efficiency. The only investment is a personal computer and an
Internet connection.

2. Distribution system

With millions of goods movement and huge information transfer between suppliers
and customer, E-commerce provides flexibility in managing it. Customer can directly
manage information throughout the supply chain thus eliminating contact between
customers and distribution centers.

E-commerce has given businesses more flexibility in managing the increasingly

complex movement of products and information between businesses, their suppliers
and customers. Customers are always in loop during complete movement.

3. Shipment tracking

Customer can establish an account on e-commerce websites and obtain real time
information about individual shipments. They can also view freight charges, claim in
case of failed delivery and many other functions. The application uses encryption
technology to keep customer information safe.

4. Shipping notice

The shipping items details are electronically transmitted ahead of the shipment. It

13

16
helps companies to record the details of every parcel being shipped.

5. Shipping Documentation and Labeling

The standard billing labels, shipping labels and carrier information are automatically
produced thus reduced the need for manual intervention. With less paper work
involved it makes shipping process more efficient.

6. Online Shipping Inquiry

The shipping information can be access to anyone in the company, from any
location. The shipment is tracked accurately and proof of delivery is quickly
confirmed. A customer can analyze shipping rates and negotiate for better deal thus
helping in improving customer satisfaction.

3.4 Factors affecting E-commerce

1. IT and Security

One of major factor affecting e-commerce all around the world is security of online
data. Ensuring safe payment online is key to acceptance of e-commerce. The lack
of transparency in electronic payment and virus, spyware increases fear among the
customers. The huge customer information with companies is always at risk and
susceptible to stolen by hacker, co-operate spies and even employees.

2. Customer attitude

Globally, many customers still prefer to shop outside because they cannot touch and
feel the product. Some customers are also impatient to wait to receive the product
while some are not sure of the product quality. Some customers are still hesitant to
put their banking, credit card detail online.

3. Technology

The technology changes very rapidly and its need to updated frequently to remain
competitive. Companies continuously need to find new investors to invest in the

14

17
upgradation of new technology plus hire new IT profession to keep system
performing at an optimal level.

4. Internet
Internet penetration is still very low in developing nations. In India with a population
1.2 billion people has estimated only 15.3% Internet users by 2013. E-commerce
business depends on speed and bandwidth for communications. Broadband
connection is still limited to urban and suburban area. Internet is out reach for rural
population.

5. Infrastructure

Poor infrastructure acts as a hurdle for e-commerce companies to do business

effectively. Poor connectivity to some part of the country limits their business area.
Even though, a lot has improved but the delivery of goods safely in the hand of
customer at right time still persists.

6. Others

Lack of IT knowledge to purchase online

Banking facility still eludes large population India
Reluctance of old generation to switch to e-commerce
Complex taxation laws
Right to e-consumers is still an issue
Complex websites interface sometimes make customers tentative to shop
online

3.5 Government Policies

The e-commerce is governed by IT act 2000 in India. India was the 12 nations to
adopt cyber laws. Some of the objectives of the act are:

To provide legal recognition for money transactions using electronic

commerce.
To lay guideline for new e-commerce companies.

15

18
 Attribution, acknowledgement and dispatch of electronic records.
Regulation of certifying authorities
Digital signature certificates
Duties of subscribers
Penalties and adjudication
Offences
Secure electronic records
Regulatory authority

FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) - is a controlling ownership in a business

enterprise in one country by an entity based in another country.

In another words, FDI is an investment made by a company based in one country

into a company based in another country. The investing company can make its
investment overseas in three ways:

1. By setting up a subsidiary or associate company in the foreign country.

2. Joint venture or merger.
3. Acquiring shares of an overseas company.

Types of FDI

1. Horizontal FDI arises when a firm duplicates its home country-based

activities at the same value chain stage in a host country through FDI.

2. Platform FDI Foreign direct investment from a source country into a

destination country for the purpose of exporting to a third country.

3. Vertical FDI takes place when a firm through FDI moves upstream or
downstream in different value chains i.e., when firms perform value-adding
activities stage by stage in a vertical fashion in a host country.

(http://ptlb.in/ecommerce/?p=440).
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_direct_investment)

16

19
Currently, there are two ways in which FDI can entry in e-commerce in India.
1. Automatic Route
2. Government Route

The guidelines for the FDI in India are as follow:

1. 100% FDI under automatic route is permitted in marketplace model of E-

Commerce.

Marketplace model – when an E-Commerce company provides an

information technology platform on a digital and electronic network where the
company acts as a facilitator between buyer and seller.

Inventory model – when an E-Commerce activity where inventory of goods

and services is owned by E-Commerce entity and is sold to the consumers
directly. The difference is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4, Government restriction in FDI in India

(Source - http://dipp.nic.in)

2. No FDI is permitted in the Business to Consumer ("B2C") E-Commerce,

except in the following circumstances:

A manufacturer will be permitted to sell its manufactured products in

India through e-commerce retail.

A single brand retail entity operating through brick and mortar store is
permitted to undertake retail trading through e-commerce.

17

20
 An Indian manufacturer is permitted to sell its own single brand products
through E-Commerce retail. Indian manufacturer would be the investee
company, which is the owner of the Indian brand and which
manufactures in India, in terms of value, at least 70% of its products in
house, and sources, at most 30% from Indian manufacturers.

3. Goods/services made available on the marketplace website are to clearly

provide the name, address and other contact details of the seller who shall
be solely responsible for - delivery of goods, their warranty/guarantee and
customer satisfaction subsequent to the sale and the warrantee/guarantee of
the goods/services sold.

4. Payments for such sale may be facilitated by the E-Commerce entity to the
seller in conformity with the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India.

5. E-Commerce entities providing marketplace will not directly or indirectly

influence the sale price of goods and services and shall maintain level
playing field.

6. An E-Commerce entity cannot permit more than 25% of the sale affected
through its marketplace, from one vendor or its group companies.

(http://ptlb.in/ecommerce/?p=440)

3.6 Logistics

3.6.1 Overview

Logistics can be defined as the process of planning, implementing, and controlling

the efficient, cost effective flow and storage of raw materials, in-process inventory,
finished goods and related information from point of origin to point of consumption
for the purpose of meeting customer requirements.

Logistics is happening around the globe 24 hours a day’ through a year. In some
areas of business it involve the complexity or span the geography typical of logistics.

18

21
Logistics deals with delivery of products and services where they are needed
whenever they are desired.
In case of physical goods, logistics involves integration of warehousing, packing,
transportation and information flow.

Logistics can be of two natures:

1. Inbound logistics – is the process of logistics focusing on purchasing and

arrangement of the inbound material, parts etc from suppliers to
warehouses, assembly plant or retail stores.

2. Outbound logistics – is the process of storage or movement of finished

goods from warehouses or assembly plant to the end customers.

The main areas of logistics can be distinguished as follows:

1. Procurement Logistics

2. Distribution Logistics

3. After-sales Logistics

4. Disposal Logistics

5. Reverse Logistics

6. Green Logistics

7. Global Logistics

8. Domestics Logistics

9. Concierge Service

10. RAM Logistics

11. Asset Control Logistics

12. POS Material Logistics

13. Emergency Logistics

14. Production Logistics

19

22
Some of them are defined below:

1. Procurement Logistics – It consists of activities such as market research,

requirements planning, make-or-buy decisions, supplier management,
ordering, and order controlling.

2. Distribution Logistics - It consists of activities such as delivery of the

finished products to the customer, order processing, warehousing, and
transportation. It is important because the time, place and quantity of
production and consumption differ.

3. Disposal Logistics - It consists of activity of disposing waste produced

during the operation of a business. It helps in reduction of logistics costs and
improvement in services.

4. Reverse Logistics – It consists of operations in which product and material

are reuse. It also include sale of product that are returned from buyers. It is
the process of moving good from its final destination to proper disposal.

5. Green Logistics – Its aim is to minimize the ecological impact of logistics

movement. It can be achieved by better freight transport, path optimization
etc.

6. RAM Logistics – It deals with the heavy business and military logistics. It is
highly complicated because it deals with weapon systems and other military
hardware.

7. Asset Control Logistics – It deals with the transportation of assets required

for promotional display and preservation. E.g. Poster frames, Display
screens.

8. Emergency logistics – It deals with the transportation of time critical good

in case of emergency. The reason for it in any company can be due to many
reasons such as production delay, natural calamity etc.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logistics)

23
3.6.3 Handling and order processing

Handling system include many equipment such as multiple handler, cell racks,
cantilever racks etc. Order processing involves labeling, weighting, packing, lading
bills, picking order for transportation etc. Picking is done manually and automated. In
manual, use of conveyor belt is used for good movement and picking by man.
Robots or dispensers are used in automated case. Sorting is done manually or
through automated sorters.

1. Storage racks

In warehouses, the items are stored in proper arrangement. It is done with the help
of storage racks.

Figure 7. Storage Racks

(Source - http://www.dexion.com)

2. Automated picking robots

Automatic NC (Numeric Control) picking robots are used to pick items which has to
be shipped. The process is monitored by warehouse staff that moniter and control it
via computers. Picking and packing process is quick due use of machines and less
human involvement reduces error in picking.
24
Figure 8. Automated Picking Robots
(Source-https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/robot-aisle-automated-storage-
retrieval-system-fernando)

3. Picking through use of conveyer belt

Shipping items are moved in packing facility with the help of conveyor belt. Items are
then packed in boxes based on its size then they separated based on delivery
locations.

Figure 9. Conveyor Belts

(Source – www. Bastian Solutions.com)

25
 4. Weighing machine

Figure 10. Digital Weighing Machine

(Source - https://www.andweighing.com)

Packed shipping items are weighed using Digital Weighing Machine. Items shipping
cost is directly related to shipping weight.

3.6.4 Transportation

Goods transported from warehouses are moved through variety of transported

medium such as bus, train, airplanes and ships according to volume and weight.
Freight charges depend upon the mode selected. Air services are the most
expensive one but is the fastest. Special containers and loading blocks are used in
order to prevent good damage during transit.

3.6.5 Outsourcing

Outsourcing is basically means if a company with its own warehousing facilities

decides to employ external transportation, would be an example of Outsourcing.
Outsourcing is done either completely or partial. Partial outsourcing is usually done
for specific location or time. This is very safe and cost effective way for small
companies who do not have capital or sales to start its own logistics branch. Big e-
commerce companies with high volume sales such as Flipkart and Amazon usually
have its own logistics arm to support its operation.

The decision outsource to a Third Party Logistics (3PL) company can be challenging
yet rewarding to the organization. Supply chain functions have grown increasingly

26
complex with globalization, technology, and competition advancing at a rapid pace.
Analysis of cost factors, performance gaps, financial impact, and suitability for
outsourcing yields is required for superior outsourcing strategies and transition
plans.

(http://theprogressgroup.com/white-papers/logistics-outsourcing-is-it-right-for-your-
business/)

27
4.Case one – Amazon India

4.1 Introduction

Amazon is an American electronic commerce company with headquarters in Seattle,

Washington USA. Jeff Beroz founded it in 1994. It started as an online store but
later diversifying to sell CD, software, electronics, furniture etc. The company also
produces consumer electronic goods such as e-book reader – Amazon kindle, TV
etc. It is world’s largest e-commerce company currently and conducts business in 10
countries:

1. U.S.
2. Canada
3. UK
4. Germany
5. France
6. Italy
7. Spain
8. Japan
9. China
10 India

In 2013, Amazon launched its site in India, amazon.in. It started with electronic
goods and expanded into fashion apparel, beauty, home essentials, and healthcare
categories by the end of 2013. Since India does not allow foreign direct investment
(FDI) in direct online retail, Amazon started by launching Junglee.com. It is a price
comparing website completely own by Amazon. On Amazon’s marketplace in India,
users can buy books, movies and TV shows from independent sellers directly on
Amazon.
Amazon is known for its wafer-thin margins, but still reported sales growth of over
27% to $61 billion in the year 2013 in India. It push back much of the money it
makes into the company. By 2015 end, Amazon started operation in 50 cities. It
projected to grow rapidly in the next five years. The Figure 11 shows the sales
forecast.
(http://www.livemint.com)

28
Figure 11. Sales forecast in India
(Source - http://recode.net)

4.2 Competition
Other major companies operating in Indian e-commerce market are:

1. Flipkart
2. Snapdeal
3. EBay

The market share of each company for the year 2015 is shown below

Figure 12. Indian E-commerce market share in 2015

Reasons for Amazon’s late entry

Amazon started its online marketplace in India from 2013. The company started with

29
software development centers, which has employed many software developers and
technologists’ through India. Amazon was not interested in India as a potential
market due to the following reasons.

1. The major reason that prevented Amazon’s entry into was due to political
reasons. India liberalized its markets to foreign investment way back in 1991;
the retailing sector was still closed to foreign retailers. FDI is not allowed inE-
commerce. In last decade, Government of India introduced reforms that
allowed foreign retailers like Amazon to partner with local partners to sell
their products. Inventory based model on which company operates in US is
prohibited in India.

2. Secondly, the online retail market in India was too small in the early 2000.
Economically, Indian market was not an interesting prospect

3. Another important reason that discouraged Amazon entering India was that
despite the country’s massive population, Internet penetration was very low
in the country. India only had ~50 million active Internet users in the year
2012 which means that the potential customers in the country was too small.

4. The concept of online retailing was not well established in India since people
were more comfortable with traditional shopping methods. Amazon has to
not only enter new market but also have to create awareness about online
shopping. This additional cost would have affected the return on investment
for the company.

5. The poor infrastructure of India especially in logistics handling, technology

and transportation in respect to size of the country was another problem.
Even though it had big market for the future but the environment was
completely different compared to US and Europe where Amazon currently
operates.

Testing the waters

The massive success of local online retail businesses of Flipkart.com – a local

online retail business started by a couple of Indian executives, evoked a lot of

30
interest of Amazon due to its successful adaption of many practices that were
currently followed by Amazon in US. With higher GDP and growing economy,
Internet penetration in India is expected to grow substantially in the next decade.
According to conservative estimates, the Indian online market is expected to reach
$8.8 billion by 2016.
With Indian economy moving toward more free market economy, Amazon has to
establish a presence early in order to capture market share organically. Successful
implementation of marketplace model by Flipkart has given huge opportunity to
Amazon to replicate the marketplace strategy that it adopted during the early 2000s
in US.

4.3 Services

Selling on Amazon

All type of business can sell product and services on Amazon. It is one of the fastest
ways to begin selling online

A source of new sales channel to businesses

It help in building brand recognition
A trusted and secure platform is provided by Amazon

Fulfillment on Amazon

Amazon helps companies to sell their product online globally

Access to prime customer of Amazon
Trusted customer sales and after sales service
Amazon offer fast, reliable shipping to customer

Advertisement on Amazon

Reach to millions of Amazon customer

It helps in driving more traffic to your website
Amazon helps businesses to advertise their product online

31
4.4 Business process and model

The business process in e-commerce is quite similar to traditional retail store

business. The e-commerce business can be divided into 6 parts

1. Sourcing - Acquiring goods from the seller to store in warehouses

2. Cataloging - Taking pictures of items acquired
3. Listing - Uploading pictures on websites
4. Marketing - Advertising its website to attract customers to its website to
purchase
5. Packaging - To pack sold items for shipping
6. Shipping - Delivery the item to the customer

Business model
These are of two types

1. Marketplace model – In this model e-commerce companies only act as a

platform for seller to sell. Due to foreign direct investment restriction in India
in which foreign companies sell items directly to buyers. Amazon in India is
working on this model currently.

Figure 13. Market place model

Source – www.drawpack.com

32
2. Inventory model - In this model, e-commerce companies’ purchase item to
building inventories and store them in warehouses. It then sells directly to the buyer.

Figure 14. Inventory based model

(Source - https://www.quora.com)

4.5 Amazon Logistics structure and Operation

4.5.1 Ordering

A customer after opening the website, select one or more items for purchase. This
items directly goes to the electronic basket provided by websites. It provided
information about pricing, delivery time and payment mode such as credit card,
online banking etc. Sometimes based on the customer history option of cash on
delivery, discounts are roled out to customers.

In case of Business to business tranctions, a separate system is placed to keep

record of order history and according to it several discounts and concession are
offered to them. The inbuilt software will check all taxes, payment terms and
delivery. Order will be cleared only after it is technically and commercially clear and
the same will be confined to the client electronically.
Ordering process is crucial in an e-commerce company as it involves setting up the
system standard to meet customer requirement. Order is processed in batches
according to volume of inflow on an hourly or daily basis.

33
4.5.2 Inventory management

Inventory management has played a vital role in e-commerce business. The

mismanagement can seriously affect your profit and reputation. Some of the ill
effects of a poorly manage inventory are as follow:

1. Reduce cash flows

2. Delayed shipment
3. Process bottleneck due faulty forecasting and data entry
4. Negative customer experience
5. Inconsistent sales growth

Amazon has integrated inventory online order with order planning, inventory
planning and fulfillment system. In case the item is not in stock or under processing,
its delivery time will be confirmed to the customer before the order is accepted. Its
inventory management system closely monitor the inventory movement right from
the source of supply, warehouses, distribution center and finally to customer. It uses
computer software and algorithm to forecast sales and inventory. For items out of
stock, replenishment instruction will be issued as soon the item is off the shelves.

The main objectives of Amazon inventory systems are:

1. To clearly understand customer delivery need.

2. To coordinate with the wholesale suppliers and independent seller
to make customer available to customers both current and soon to
be released products.
3. To provide delivery under two days for most orders.
4. To enable customer to query the status of their product and track
their own shipment.
5. To align supply and delivery with other operations such as
marketing, customer service.

34
Figure 15. Inventory Management System
(Source - http://www.improsys.in)

For Amazon, in order to ensure that all orders can be processed and shipped in time
for Diwali and Holi (two biggest festival in India), when sales volume is at its peak,
the company employs a variety of data collection tools to make sure purchased
goods move through from warehouses onto trucks as quickly as possible.

4.5.3 Order execution

Once the order is accepted for execution, order details are passed on to the
inventory manager or directly to the third party for filling and packaging. The order
details incorporate item detail, quantity and packaging. The warehouse manager will
then instruct for delivery of item to the customer. All this process is done

35
electronically. The delivery detail will be immediately conveyed to the customer via
email and SMS along with the invoice.

4.5.4 Shipping

Based upon the size of the consignment, transport is organized by the logistics arm
of Amazon or through third party logistics partner in some case. Decision software
decides the choice of carrier, mode of transport, route, scheduling of goods
according to client location, public holidays and other variables.

Amazon Drones And Other Innovations:

It is a recent buzz according to which Amazon is busy building or has probably built
drones to increase its business. Sooner or later, drones will be acting as local
delivery boy and will be delivering goods at customers’ footsteps and giving online
retailer ship just an- other level. So, customers’ do not have to worry too much
anymore whether the person delivering goods to your address is confused at how to
find your address. Who knows? Maybe Amazon someday makes it possible. A
customer wishing to get delivered a set of books merely has to locate his house on
Google maps, and paying machine comes with the stuff you ordered.

(http://www.techulator.com)

4.5.5 Tracking

Customer always wants to know the current status of item during transit. To help in
locating the consignment, a bar coding system with satellite communication is used.
Amazon provides this code to the customers on its websites to help them locate
their order. It is a value added service for customer convenience.

4.5.6 Payments

Amazon provide customers many payment option such as:

1. Credit card
2. Debit card
3. Online banking
4. Cash on delivery
5. Coupons

36
 6. Paypal

Some options such as cash on delivery sometimes depends upon client location,
credit history, item value and volume of order. The system then generates online
invoices, payment report, payment reminder etc.

4.5.7 Order cancellation and substitution

In case of order is cancelled by Amazon due to some reason beyond management
control, it informs customer in time via email and phone. It also gives customers
substitute option available to them. With years of operation it has evolved it order
cancellation policy to maintain the customer trust.

4.5.8 Return policy

In a case where customer does not like the product, find performance below
expectation or product being damaged during transit. For items fulfilled by Amazon,
will be eligible for a free replacement. A detail timeframe and guideline for return is
given at Amazon website.

Return process
A separate system in place handles the reverse material flow. The return process is
shown in Figure 16.

37
Figure 16. Return Process
(Source – www.amazon.com)

Logistics system in Amazon India

Amazon started delivering goods using third party logistics. It was cautious move
because they were entering into a completely new market. With increase market
share and revenue, it started its own logistics branch to handle its logistics
operations.

The reason behind launching its own logistics branch is as follows:

1. Cost saving.
2. Reducing the amount of damage good delivered to customers.
3. Better customer service.
4. To build its reputation as safe and reliable company.
5. Optimization of supply chain.
6. Ability to collect data and analyze it for further improvement.
7. Delivery of goods on time and to right person.

38
5. Case Two - Flipkart India

5.1 Introduction
Flipkart is an e-commerce company based in Singapore. It was founded in 2007, by
Sachin and Binni Bansal who were the ex-employees of Amazon.com. it operates in
India. According to alexia internet, Flipkart is one of the most popular website visited
in India.

Legally, Flipkart is not an Indian company since it is registered in Singapore and

majority of its shareholders are foreigners. Because foreign companies are not
allowed to do multi-brand e-retailing in India, Flipkart sells goods in India through a
company called WS Retail. Other third-party sellers or companies can also sell
goods through the Flipkart platform. Flipkart now employs more than 15000 people.
Initially in 2008 Flipkart sold books but soon it established itself wide and started
selling products like consumer electronics, clothing, home decoration products,
appliances, beauty and fashion products etc. Due to the powerful network all over
India and effective customer relationship management, Flipkart has earned a top
most position in India.

Figure 17 – Flipkart Funding

(Source - http://dazeinfo.com)

39
Flipkart sales and revenue overview:

Average Shipments a day - 1,00,000

Current Annualized Revenue - 33.55 billion INR
Valuation – 99 Billion INR
Revenues 2012-13 - 11.80 billion INR
Revenue Target for 2015 – 61 billion INR
Customers - 10 million
Cities - 150

(INR = Indian Rupee)

(https://www.quora.com)

5.2 Business model

Flipkart started on inventory based model and currently operates on both inventory
and market place model Since 2013, Flipkart has been slowly shifting to a
marketplace model, where it connects customers to thousands of third-party sellers
rather than sell products only through WS Retail due to the new FDI rules in India.

“FDI is not be allowed in inventory-based models, where the company owns the
goods that are being sold through its platform”

WS Retail – is the largest seller on its platform, and accounts close to 40% of the
total sales of the company. As part of a complex arrangement, WS Retail sells
goods from Flipkart India Pvt. Ltd, the B2B (business-to-business) arm of the main
group holding company, and sells the same goods to customers on Flipkart’s site.
WS Retail also owned and ran Flipkart’s key logistics business called e-kart that
delivered products to customers.

(http://2015greetingcards.com)

5.3 Flipkart Logistics structure and Operations

Due to ban in FDI in online retail in India, Flipkart has a very complex interconnected
with some independent firms. It transfers massive funds into these independent
firms to build an interconnected e-commerce business.

40
Flipkart provides technology platform and logistics services to the manufacturers
from whom it sources goods and then sells those goods to many of its third party
sellers. These sellers then offer goods to shoppers. Flipkart takes a commission on
every sale through its website. It does not operate in a pure marketplace model. It
has a complex set of nine firms. It owns stakes in most of these firms. The major
three firms, which are registered in Singapore as 100% subsidiaries of Flipkart are:

1. FPL: Flipkart Marketplace Pvt. Ltd

2. Flipkart Logistics Pvt. Ltd
3. Flipkart Payments Pvt. Ltd

These companies, in turn, hold stakes in five Indian firms.

1. Flipkart India Pvt. Ltd

2. Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd
3. The wholesale cash-and-carry firm
4. Digital Media Pvt. Ltd
5. Flipkart Payment Gateway Services Pvt. Ltd

The reason behind the complex structure is FDI is barred in direct online retail in
India.
The ownership of FPL Singapore is shared between Tiger Global, Accel Partners,
Naspers and the Bansals. Tiger Global, the US-based firm holds approximately 30%
in the parent company with two seats on the board. Flipkart also owns Myntra, a
clothing e-commerce company that was acquired by Flipkart in May 2013 for $330
million.

Company Structure

The entire organizational structure of Flipkart is organized in three broad teams as

shown in Table 2.

41
 Product and Technology Business Development Operations
Website Vendor Management Procurement

Management Sales Management Warehouse

ERP System
Pricing Strategies Logistics

Customer Support
Product and Technology
Team
Table 2 – Flipkart company structure
(Source – http://cmuscm.blogspot.co.at)

Product and Technology Team

It is the core team of the company which manages the company website and the
ERP system. Website is a pillar for any e-commerce business. Flipkart has a
modern system, which uses open source software. The team manages the process
starting from listing of products to optimization of search.

Business Development Team

This team is responsible for activities related to sales, pricing, discount strategy, and
vendor management.

Operations Team

This team is responsible for the supply chain. It include procurement, warehouse
management and customer support. The customer support is done both online as
well as offline.

Customer Support team

Flipkart put a lot of emphasis on customer service. It guarantees a 24/7 service to all
its customers. It has a full time customer support team with two main
responsibilities:

1. Website Guidance – To assists new user on how to use website. It also

assists users in case of payment enquiries, order verification calls etc.

42
 2. Delivery related guidance – It resolves and inform customers in case of late
delivery, post purchase issues etc.

Logistics

Flipkart ships more than 100000 items per day, which makes logistics a very
important aspect of the whole operation and also difficult to manage. To manage
logistics Flipkart uses its own logistics arm known as eKart. The reason to have its
own logistics arm is to save commission which usually around 2%, which it has to
pay to courier firms. Around 60% of the total orders are delivered by eKart and rest
is done by 3PL (Third-party Logistics). Flipkart has tie up with 15 courier companies
such as Bluedart etc. More than 90% orders are shipped on COD (Cash on
Delivery). It uses Post India only in case when its own service as well as 3PL cannot
deliver in the particular area. In eKart, the item is first delivered to the main hub and
then to the local delivery hub from where last mile delivery is done by suitable
means of transport such as two-wheeler, foot etc. In case of 3PL, the company
allocated time slots to different courier firms to pick up the items to make it efficient.
Delivery cost in India is relatively low due to cheap labor availability. Delivery time
depends upon the item and the location. If the item is imported then it usually takes
3 weeks to delivered. For items available in local warehouse, it takes 3-4 to deliver.
Mode of transport depends if the item is to be delivered from local warehouse, it
done by two wheelers or by foot. For trans zone, air cargo service is used. In case of
intercity, Rail or bus services are used.

Reverse logistics / returns processing

Flipkart has 30 day return policy, which helps, in building trust with the customers.
Usually return is around 2.6% of the total delivered items. A detail return policy is
available to customers at Flipkart website. This logistics comes into play when the
customer request one of the following:

1. Replacement – When Flipkart returns the product to the supplier and delivers
the replacement to the customer.
2. Refund– When customer is not satisfied with the product and wants it money
refunded. It can be done either online transfer or through cash on delivery
payment.

43
Procurement

Flipkart started its operation by inventory model, in which it stores items from the
suppliers in its own warehouses and buy only when it is sold to customer. The new
laws in India are highly favored in marketplace model. Flipkart switched to it in April
2013. In this, it does not hold inventory from sellers rather than its seller directly sells
to buyer and it only focus only on delivery. This model is similar to Amazon and
many other e-commerce companies in India. The procurement is done for two
reasons:

1. Inventory – On the basis of previous demand, these items are stored in the
warehouses by the sellers. These are fast consuming items and low shelf life
such as mobile phones, electronics goods etc.
2. Just in Time – These items are ordered to fulfill pending orders. These are
highly unpredictable and depend on season. It is done on order-to-order
basis. It is not very profitable because it for the expensive items with low
sales and less discounts.

Currently, inventory based order is around 75% and just in time 30% of the total
sales.

Sourcing at Flipkart

Regional - Region procurement team

Centre - Central procurement team

Each team has a big network of suppliers to fulfill both inventory based as well just
in time procurement. Central procurement team monitors supplies from all over the
country and it usually deals with bigger suppliers. It also monitors stock at regional
level. It tasks it to avoid stock out which zero availability of product in the inventory.

Warehouse Management

Flipkart has 7 major warehouses in the country.

1. Mumbai
2. Kolkata

44
 3. Delhi
4. Noida
5. Pune
6. Chennai
7. Bangalore

It has regional distribution center around 500 locations in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.
Flipkart’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) has three main parts:
1. Inward Processing
2. Storage Management
3. Outward Processing. Discussed

Flipkart warehouse management systems are shown in Figure 18.

Figure – 18 Flipkart Warehouse Management Systems

(Source – http://cmuscm.blogspot.co.at)

45
Inward Processing

1. Physical inwarding:
Goods from suppliers are delivered to this area.
2. Quality Check plus Scan:
Once received, goods go through initial quality check and are scanned for
entry into warehouse IT system as input of goods. Sometime quality is
checked at supplier end depending on the contract between Flipkart and
supplier’s.
3. Pre-packing of products:
Initial packing is done at this stage. It varies according to product and size. If
there is free item is attached to product then it will be packed together.

Storage Management
Put-list generation:
After input of items is done the warehouse IT system, a system knows Put-list-
generation, which marks place and shelve where the items need to be put.

Order pending check:

When the system get any input for the any product, it checks for any incoming item
then the item is sent to the Final Packaging Area for Outward Processing.

Physical placement on shelves:

According to put-list, the items are placed at their designated shelf and its shelf
number is updated on the put-list.

Closing of Put-list
Once the items are placed on the shelf, the put-list is closed.

Outward Processing
Pick-list generation:
According to the order delivery time, a Pick-list is then generated by the system.

Pick-up from shelves:

The items are then picked from the shelves and are moved toward the packing area.

46
Final packaging:
The items are then packed into boxes. It varies according to the product. For eg
electronic items are packed differently than books and bags. Then packed boxes are
placed to the delivery hub, which is different according to the designation and timing.

Improvement at Warehouse Management level:

1. The products are scanned manually at inward processing stage. Process

can be speed up with automation at this stage.
2. Currently at Flipkart, there are different storage areas according to the
products. It decreases complexity of the system.

The customer email id is considered as the unique identification number for all the
customers. It assists them in maintain records related to the ID.

Payment can be made by all kinds of means such Bank transfer, Credit card, Debit
card, Cash on delivery. Cash on delivery is the most popular option in India and
comprises for more than half of the total orders.

Order Fulfillment

Figure – 19 Order fulfillment process

(Source - http://cmuscm.blogspot.co.at)

47
As shown in Figure 19, once the order is approved, there is an inventory check at
warehouses. If the item is not found at the local warehouse then the inventory is
checked at the nearest warehouse. Order is then packed for the delivery. In case it
is not available in any warehouse then it is forwarded to the regional procurement
team for JIT. In case it is not possible, then order is forwarded to the central
procurement team as the final option. Once the item is procured from the vendor, it
is packed and shipped to the customer.

Inventory Management

Inventory stocks are ordered once they go below reorder point. Flipkart uses FIFO
(First In First Out) method for its inventory management. It works on the principle
that for inventory shipment request for any warehouse, oldest items are to be
shipped first. It is crucial especially in case of electronics as technology become
obsolete very quickly. Flipkart uses “Long Tail” Concept to decide which item to be
stored at warehouse and which items to be ordered from vendors. It works on the
principle of selling large quantity of special items with small quantities. Flipkart order
such item and do not store it since the demand for such items is low.

Supplier Management

Flipkart works on the policy of starting small and then build up when demand
increases. It generally starts with local suppliers and once the demand reaches a
certain point, they approach the bigger wholesale suppliers.

The advantages of it are:

1. It helps them to negotiate better deals from bigger suppliers when they order
larger quantities.
2. It also helps bigger suppliers to reduce complexity when they have also
agreement with other small online e-commerce companies.

Flipkart fhas divided its suppliers into groups based on their fill-rate performance
and past performance.

Other secondary considerations while placing an order with a supplier:

48
 1. Price considerations
Discount and credit limit plays a crucial role in selecting suppliers.

2. Quality Check contract

It depend upon the place of quality check whether at suppliers place or at
Flipkart warehouses.

3. Percentages of Returns Accepted

Higher the returns accepted by a supplier, it’s better for Flipkart.

Customer Support

Customer support is one of the most important functions for any e-commerce. It
helps in building customer trust and maintaining customer loyalty. Flipkart tries to
differentiate with other competitors by offering superior shopping experience and by
ensuring that order is placed within 6 clicks at their websites. It trains it team in
house rather than outsourcing to maintain service quality.

Flipkart customer support team consists of center agents. Their primary task is to
handle inbound and outbound calls. The customer calls due to following reasons.

Sales Assistance
General Enquiries
Shipping related enquiry

The outbound call-center performs the following tasks:

Informing customers about any delay in deliveries.

Checking the status of refunds or returns.
Inform the user in case any unsuccessful delivery.

49
6. Analysis

6.1 Cross analyses between Amazon and Flipkart

The some of the figures below compares Amazon and Flipkart in various
parameters

1. Product offering

Figure - 20 Product Offering Comparison between Flipkart and Amazon

(Source: www.econmictimes.com)

As the Figure 20 shows, Flipkart has more sales in mobile section. The gap is
bigger in laptop section. Tablet and cameras section is very close.

2. Product portfolio and sellers

Figure - 21 Product portfolio of Amazon and Flipkart

(Sources - http://www.business-standard.com)

50
In Figure 21, Flipkart has the edge when it comes to categories. It has more than 70
categories of product it sell on its platform as compare to Amazon which is 24. In
case of no of seller, Flipkart lag behind Amazon by huge margin. The difference in
number of seller between Amazon and Flipkart is 2000.

3. IT and social medial popularity

Figure - 22 Social Medial Popularity

(Sources - http://trak.in)

51
.

Figure - 23 Mobile download and daily usage

(Source – AppAnnie)

The Figure 22 & 23 show, Flipkart is way ahead of Amazon in terms of social
medial popularity. Flipkart entered the Indian market early, which can be a reason
behind more popularity. Even with the late entry, Amazon with its efficient delivery
system and shopping experience is catching up fast.

4. Net Revenue and Loss

Figure - 24 Net revenue and losses

(Source – VCCEdge)

In Figure 24, by comparing losses and net revenue shows that both these company
are in loss. It is mainly because both these company is selling many items such as
phones below retail prices. They do it by offering payment to third party seller to sell
goods under price. Losses are much higher in Flipkart as compared to Amazon. It is
mainly due to the fact of larger market share of Flipkart.

52
5. Promotional Techniques:

Promotional techniques of Flipkart

Flipkart advertise through print and electronic media which include

newspaper, television etc. It mainly focus on the web base advertisement
such as e-mail promotions with discounts offers.

Promotional techniques of Amazon

Amazon also do marketing through print and electronic media. It also uses
web base advertisement using emails for promotional information with
discount offers, networking but also promotes other popular websites for ads
and tags promotions.

6. Delivery Manners:

Both the companies are different in the delivery manner. For e.g., if you
order a book and a DVD. It may be possible that the delivery of book is done
next day but DVD may arrive a few a later. It happens if the seller takes more
shipping time.

In case of Flipkart, it is different. It ships the two items together in the same
package. It will take more time for delivery due to it. It depends upon
customers what kind of delivery system they like. Some might favour Flipkart
delivery manner while other may like Amazon. Flipkart have this delivery
manner because its cost saving. Amazon also saves its expenses by
avoiding any intervention in the delivery process midway.

Amazon in India started the same day delivery system. It caters the need of
those customers who are desperate to get their ordered products on the
same day. It cost them some extra fee. Recently, Flipkart too started this
service with same service but its fee is little less as compared to Amazon.
This service has certain conditions such as order should be placed before 6
P.M.

7. Business Model - Flipkart & Amazon

53
 Generally, the business model used by e-commerce companies are either
inventory or Marketplace based.

Flipkart when started its on inventory based model. It invested huge capital
on warehouses and logistics. Since 2013, it started using mixture of both
models. It is mainly due to the FDI norms in India. Amazon on the other hand
has always operated on marketplace model. In April 2016, Government of
India allowed 100% FDI in marketplace based e-commerce. The operating
condition after the announcement now favours heavy toward marketplace
model. All the leading e-commerce companies are working under
marketplace model.

8. Pricing Strategy

It is very often seen in the Indian market that both Amazon and Flipkart are
offering the same price or very close price for some products. Both these
companies are marketplaces and sellers may not necessarily agree to price
cuts the companies want.

Amazon has a team which has prime task only to execute execute strategic
pricing that makes other e-commerce companies bleed financially. It offers
discounts on high selling and high volume products on Flipkart. In response,
Flipkart has to offer discount to protect its market share and hence adding up
to its losses. These discounts are paid by the companies to sellers and place
these cost under the promotional expenses. It is believed that Flipkart, and
Amazon are burning more than $100 million of cash every month in
discounting products. As compare to Amazon, Flipkart has the higher burn
rate. To fund the discounts, both companies are raising money via
investment by foreign and local investors. Flipkart has raised around $ 2.3
billion so far. Amazon India backed by its parent company has pledged to
receive investment around $ 2 billion in coming years.

The game is about who has the stamina to sustain losses. Amazon will wait
for its rivals especially Flipkart who is the market leader to burn out. It is
same strategy company used in US to become market leader. Amazon
backed by its parent company can sustain losses longer due to its deep
pockets.

54
6.2 SWOT

SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT matrix) is initialism for strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities, and threats—and is a structured planning method that evaluates
those four elements of a project or business venture. A SWOT analysis can be
carried out for a product, place, industry, or person. It is shown in Figure 25.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_analysis)

Figure - 25 SWOT
(Source – Internet-Marketing-Management.com)

SWOT analysis of Amazon

Strengths

1. Amazon is among the world first online retailers and currently is the
biggest among all globally. It derives its strength mainly from

Cost leadership
Distinct business model
Customer satisfaction

55
This strategy has helped the company to gain lot of loyal customers and shareholder
earning profit from the company.

2. Amazon has maintained its competitive advantage by implementing IT

(Information technology). It easy to ramp up platform ensures that it is
always ahead of its competitors.

3. The goodwill earned by Amazon due to its satisfied customers in US has

given it customers globally. It has helped it to enter new markets, which
were a big challenge for other e-commerce companies.

4. Amazon superior logistics and distribution system has helped it to satisfy

its customers and it has resulted in competitive advantage over its rivals.

Weaknesses

1. In last couple of years, Amazon has diversified it product portfolio, which

has shifted its focus from its core competence of retailing books online. It
is good to diversity product portfolio but it is losing its strategic
advantage, which has stabilized them in the market.

2. Due to its free shipping policy on many products, it is in danger of losing

its already thin margins. It will be difficult for them to optimize cost in
future due to this strategy.

3. Amazon is only an online retailer; the focus on retailing can become

hindrance in its expansion plans especially in the emerging markets.

4. One of the biggest weaknesses of Amazon is strategy of operating on

waver thin margins. Company has huge volume and revenue but it has
not translated into profitability for the company.

5. Inventory management is still need to be improved to reduce delayed

order and time.

56
 6. During peak season such as New Year or festive time, due to huge
volume, Amazon delivery system has huge bottlenecks. It tarnishes
company reputation and reduces customer satisfaction.

Opportunities

1. Amazon has the opportunity to reduce the customers concern regarding

security and privacy, which is among the top customer concern by launching
its own payment system. Additionally, it will improve company margins by
reducing cost involved in using third party payment gateway.

2. Currently, Amazon is selling a tablet name Kindle in the market that is

produced by it. It has become successful despite strong competition by its
rival product. By launching more products under its brand it can open a new
channel of revenue instead of being an online portal for third party products.

3. Amazon can still increase its product portfolio. Its rival such as Flipkart has
started selling automobiles such as car on their websites by collaborating
with automobile companies. Increase portfolio will directly translate into
higher revenues.

4. Amazon is still only operates in 10 countries. It should expand globally and

specially in the emerging market. It will certainly give them edge of being first
mover in the competitive online retailing.

5. Amazon in US is testing delivery via drones. If this delivery system becomes

successful, it can be a game changer in the e-commerce industries.

Threats

1. One of the major threats to Amazon’s success is the increasing customers

concern over identity theft and hacking. It exposes customer’s private data.
Amazon has to quickly address these concern by installing latest safety
system to provide customer’s safe and secure online shopping.

2. Amazon has aggressive pricing strategy by rolling out discount for the

57
 product. It has led to company to face lawsuits from publisher and retail
industry because it is selling products in losses to have increase customers
numbers. It is under loss ever since it entered the Indian market.
Implementing cost leadership strategy sometimes becomes a source of
trouble for the company.

3. It faces stiff competition from its local rival in India, who entered the market
before them such as Flipkart. Applying its global strategy instead of local
strategy based on local market condition can lose them market share.

4. Due to loopholes in the delivery system, sometimes items are stolen while in
transit. High reverse material flow also reduces company profit.

5. Innovative ideas such as delivery via drones will be tough to implement

because of the security concern raised by security establishment such as
staking customer through it.

SWOT analysis of Flipkart

Strengths

1. Flipkart has earned customer’s loyalty toward it by offering 24*7 excellent

customer services. The satisfied customer shop again using it which helped
them to grow their business multi fold.

2. Competitive pricing by offering huge discounts and better deals to customers

especially on the highly popular products such as Mobiles phones.

3. Flipkart website has a better search optimization for searching products and
offer buying via websites within 6 clicks to make online shopping convenient
to buyers.

4. Promotion activities such advertisement are based according to the Indian

market. It helps them to connect to buyers in a better way. It offer gift
vouchers and gifts to its customers as promotion timely to boost sales.

58
 5. Flipkart has one of the widest range of payment options available to
customers. It first started “Cash on Payment” method by studying Indian
market where online payment options are still not very common. It now
accounts more than 50% of the total sales of it. All the other companies are
now offering the same option after watching its success in Indian market. It
also have EMI option facility available to customers for certain product to
have such customer on board who cannot pay at one go.

Weaknesses

1. Even though Flipkart has its presence almost all over India but it still has less
penetration at rural parts of the country.

2. Early “Out of Stock” on some high selling product is very common especially
during peak seasons such festivals times.

3. Highly popular Cash on delivery payment option is not very economical for
the company. Cases of customers rejecting to take delivery on this option is
frequent. It cost them logistics charges. Cases of theft or snatching of items
from deliveryman has also occurred in some part of the country.

4. Promotional schemes such “The Big Billion day” failure due to logistics
incapability of the company to deliver such high amount of products in a very
short time.

5. Despite being the market leader in term of total sales and revenue, it is still
under losses. Its high discount policy resulted in high losses.

Opportunities

1. Flipkart should further increase its product portfolio by adding more items
to its websites regularly. It started selling automobile recently that was
positively received by customers. Items such as furniture should be
added which are much in demand.

2. Indian market is still not fully covered and there is still a lot of area in the

59
 country where online shopping is still a distant dream. Flipkart can cover
those areas to boost its sales. It will also help in maintaining its market
leader position.

3. Flipkart can start selling product under its brand like Amazon Kindle
rather than acting only as platform for buyers and sellers. It will improve
their profit margins but will also strengthen its brand image.

Threats

1. Other e-commerce players such Amazon is catching up fast in term of

sales and total market share.

2. Failure of promotional schemes such as “The Big Billion day” can

seriously affect company credibility in the long run.

3. Government of India is in favour of allowing 100% FDI in multi brand retail

in future. This can give edge to Amazon who has pioneered inventory
model in US.

60
6.3 PORTER Analysis

The Porter’s Five Forces tool is a very powerful tool. It is simple but excellent for
judging exactly where power lies. As it helps to understand not only the strength of
current competitive position but also the strength of an expected position, it is very
useful.

It is a critical part of your planning process. If you gain a proper understanding of

where the power lies, you can take advantage of the company’s strengths. You can
also improve your firm’s weaknesses. Overall, you will not take any wrong steps. It
is shown in Figure 26.

(http://pestleanalysis.com/porters-five-forces-analysis/)

Figure – 26 PORTER
(Source - http://successfulacquisitions.net/the-five-forces-model)

61
Supplier power:

E-commerce companies sell many products through its platforms ranging from
books to electronics items to cosmetics etc. For each items, there are multiple
suppliers who sell these products. In case of e-commerce, suppliers do not have
much power. For example, if you take case of mobile phones category, there are
many suppliers such as Apple, Samsung etc. who wants to sell their products
through online portal. Online customers have the ultimate choice in choosing their
product based on their requirement and cost. Manufacturer of these mobile phones
cannot come to this industry due logistics challenges. They see this e-commerce
company platform as medium to sell their products. E-commerce market in India is
huge and manufacturers cannot afford to ignore this medium from which major part
of their sales come. Due to it, manufacturers cannot put conditions on such e-
commerce websites. This makes suppliers power very limited.

Buyer power:

Today, Industry is flooded with many players in each category of product such as
mobile phones, electronic goods etc. The buyer has a lot of options to choose.
Buyer can easily switch products because of very low switching costs. Variety of
products is on display in several e-commerce companies and buyer can choose
based on its requirement. It can also compare cost instantly, which is not possible in
case of offline retail shopping. E-commerce companies roll out various schemes and
discount frequently. It reduces product price and gives customer power to choose
the best deal from any online retail-shopping portal. All these factors make buyer
power more when compared to the E-commerce companies.

Threat of New Entrants:

Threat of new entrants is very high in this E-commerce industry due to the following
reasons:

1. Indian government has recently allowed 100% FDI in marketplace model and
sooner or later it will allow 100% FDI in multi-brand online retail inventory
base model. So, this means new foreign companies can come and start their
own online retail companies based on any model.

62
 2. The investment required to start an E-commerce company is very less when
compared to offline retail stores. To start, all is needed is to tie up with
product suppliers and develop a website for displaying products with
payment option where customers can buy.

3. E-commerce market in India is growing very fast. It is estimated that it will be

$80 billion market by 2020. It will attract more e-commerce from everywhere
because of huge business opportunity.

Threat of substitutes:

Substitute to online industry are the physical offline stores currently. The threat is
very low because customers are more and more moving toward online purchases
because it saves them time, energy, and money. With increased penetration of
Internet and smartphones around the globe especially in the developing countries,
the future belongs to online retail. The quality is almost same in case customer buy
it online or through physical stores. The operating costs are low in e-commerce
compared to physical stores and heavy discount offered by online companies are
unmatchable for physical stores. The substantial price difference in products prices
helps in moving customers more toward online shopping. The competition is very
high due presence of many e-commerce companies such as Flipkart, Amazon etc.

63
7. Conclusion

India e-commerce market is growing at a rapid pace. With economy growing around
7.5% each year, it is one of the fastest growing economies in the world currently.
The online shopping is here to stay and will be used extensively in coming years.
The two biggest companies Flipkart and Amazon are finding out ways to retain profit
in long term with improved logistics and customer satisfaction.

Amazon has entered the Indian market at a nearly perfect time. The growth of Indian
economy is growing at a fast pace and which has improved people living standard
overall. India provides Amazon with limitless opportunities in the coming years.
Amazon has to roll out its future strategies considering big threats that will affect
them in coming years. Firstly, strategy of heavy discounting on products to grab
more market share and customer need to be relooked by the company. Volume and
market leadership are not the only factors, which add value to its stock. Secondly, it
need to sort out delivery shortcomings and website crashing during festive season.
It will not only increase customer satisfaction but will also help in adding more new
customers. Thirdly, it needs to keep innovating to be ahead in the market. The
concept of same delivery with additional cost enjoyed success in Indian market and
it needs to keep innovating like it to grab more market share. Indian market is very
competitive and competitor like Flipkart regularly comes with newer ideas. Finally, it
should broad its reach in Indian market. It is currently present only in 50 big cities
and a lot of rural market is still untapped. It should start adding new areas under its
delivery range.

A competitive rival can give boost to company performance incredibly and Amazon
is exactly such a rival. It has pushed Flipkart to launch innovative payment methods
such a PayZippy for online sellers and buyers who seek hassle free and safe
payment options. It launched its own logistics branch to improve delivery and
customer service experience. Currently, it handles more than 50% of the total
shipments. It also introduces next day delivery option that was started by Amazon.
Just as Amazon, Flipkart will also have to address some of the basic threats that
loom over the industry such as heavy discounting policy, innovation in payment
gateways, logistics, expansion etc.

64
 Reference
❖Achille s. j. (2008). world statistics on the Number of Internet Shoppers
[Online].USA:SanteAchille Available:
http://blog.webcertain.com/worldstatistics-on-the-number-ofinternet shoppers.
❖ Aldo Syarief, and Genoveva, (2015),The Analysis of Communication
between Friends on Social Media towards Purchase Intension (A Study Case of
Companies in Entrepreneurship Project of President University, Bekasi,
Indonesia), Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 169, , pp. 31-42,
ISSN number 1877-0428
❖ Anthony Miles, D. (2014) "Social Media and Consumer Behavior: A
Marketing Study On Using Structural Equation Modeling for Measuring the
Social Media Influence On Consumer Behavior.", Academy of Business
Research Conference, pp. 43-72
❖ AsadRehman. and Sharma, S., (2012). Assessing the Impact of Web 2.0 on
Consumer Purchase Decisions: Indian Perspective. International Journal of
Marketing and Technology, vol. 2(7), pp.125-139.
❖ Azhar Ahmad Nima Barhemmati (2015), “Effects of Social Network
Marketing (SNM) on Consumer Purchase Behavior through Customer
Engagement ”, Journal of Advanced Management Science Volume. 3, Number.
4, pp. 307-311

65