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Big Bazaar mocked Flipkart:



Snapdeal as well (last Sunday's Times of India):



(Source: Imgur)

I got a SMS sometime back saying the Moto E will be delivered today before 7 PM by one Mr. Nelson. :)

Woot! Even I got an SMS saying the phone will be delivered today before 7 PM!

I think I'll keep the Moto E and pass her my Lumia 920. :p

I got my Moto E yesterday afternoon - so roughly within 30 hours of ordering.

Just came across this -

"Consumer goods makers log off Flipkart"

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/t...w/44646159.cms

There are many articles in the paper too which say that offline retailers are not at all happy with the way these e-tailers are doing business. I know as a consumer, getting low prices is good for me but selling stuff worth Rs100 for Rs80 is not good in the long term - this is just my opinion.

Is there some one here in the offline retailing sector who can shed more light on this?

Online retailing has slashed prices around the world. India had to catch up, with some on-line selling being at higher prices than in shops.

I'm sure that many have a vested interest in keeping prices high. They have to learn that they cannot fix the market.

I got my Moto E delivered this morning, Quite Amazing that inspite of that HUGE sale Flipkart is delivering the products in just 2 days.
If you have your order ID then your order is confirmed and you will be receiving your order soon!

However my Nokia X order is still a mystery :p Still awaiting response from FK.

Probably the brick-n-mortar sellers need to come up with a better and cost efficient business model and with reasonable profits, elimination of needless middlemen and efficient channels. This can have a big chain effect. Even the big rent bubble may be burst as these showrooms are paying sky rocketing and unreasonable rent for the real estate on which they are operating.

Also, online sales still form less than 5% of total sales of such products. And I am assured that be it Flipkart or any other seller including physical showrooms, they will never sell products at upfront loss to ALL the customers. They may sell at a loss to a handful of them, but only for gaining some publicity and to attract more buyers to the marketplace. Nothing else. Not for long term. After all, everyone is working for profit.

Doesn't online market peacefully co-exist with the brick and mortar shops in the west? I am really at a loss to understand what the fuss is all about here. From threatening to deny warranty claims to stopping sales to online retailers, the companies seem hell bent on stopping the online sales. Isn't that an unfair practice in itself?

The discounts that they talk about, aren't disruptive at all. How many people really get to buy a 50k TV for 20k online? Online retailers might sell a few pieces at a loss to grab some eyeballs, but over time, even they cannot sell below the cost price. Plus, even in a forum like ours, if you take a poll, majority of people still stick to brick and mortar stores for big ticket buys. I think it's the dealers who are unwilling to cut their f-a-t margins and are trying to pressurize the companies to block the online channels.

The problem with that view is that there is an underlying assumption that something is "worth" Rs. 100. Who determined that worth and why is that applicable to me?

Even I am wondering what happened in US when Amazon came in with its model. I am not sure if Flipkart is following the same model which Amazon did when it started but I would love to hear what happened in US when online retailing came into being.

What I intend to say is that prices of all quantities should not keep on decreasing. I know this was just a 1 day sale (and not running throughout the year) but it came during Diwali - probably one of the best time to sell stuff. I am not taking any sides here but just trying to understand the economics here. Probably offline retailers are witnessing lower sales and they are trying all they can to prevent it (lobbying with MNC's, taking legal routes etc).

During the sale I saw a very frightening side of consumerism - buying stuff which one does not need. My father did it during the day of the sale and his reasoning was - "But it is so cheap today - we might not get it at this price any time later". Probably I am a type of consumer who buys stuff only when it is necessary and do not agree to the theory of "It is ok to spend once in a while". lol:

Now my father is telling me to buy a laptop in the upcoming Amazon sale because our current laptop is old and can die any moment. It is just that in a frenzy, sometimes we do not think clearly. I have seen this type of frenzy even when there is discount offering by offline retailers. Once there was a sale in Shoppers Stop (I think it was 50% off) and I was told that I should buy 4-5 pairs of denims. But then I do not need so many denims - just because the stuff is cheap does not mean I should rush and buy it. All I am trying to say is "It is very interesting to see people think whenever there is a sale - offline or online"

P.S. - Above are just my thoughts and opinions.

A lot of people go to the B & M store to look & feel an item. And then go & then order it online because it's a 100 Rs cheaper. Now, the B & M guy has invested in setting up a shop and keeping inventory. His loss and the online store's gain.

Just received this on WhatsApp. Posting here since what it refers to is a no-brainer!!

I'm not very convinced of this approach. I think the big mistake the B&M merchants are making is that they aren't considering online as a delivery channel themselves. They want their B&M stores and also want the reach, footfalls, revenue and margins that is online's prerogative as of now.

Not that I know of. Borders, Radioshack etc. are companies affected by online. Online and B&M are playing what seems to me is a zero-sum game.

Why not? What was luxury a decade back is a commodity now.

Right. So what can he do?

- Charge entry fee (adjusted against final purchase) to the store, to cover overheads.
- Make sure that the customer orders from HIS online store (say, by way of a discount code).
- Provide the same benefits as ordering online. If the customer is in HIS store already, why does she need to go online to order? Provide home delivery and COD. Or easy returns.

And so on. I'm sure an imaginative marketing professional can come up with many more things to do. The one thing the store owner ought not do is to gang up against online stores, run crying to the government and courts or otherwise interfere with the online store's business.