Flipkart has been a lot in news recently. Yesterday, we mentioned a case where a customer received a couple of stones from Flipkart instead of an iPod. Today, Flipkart has increased the free shipping limit from Rs. 300 to Rs. 500.
So, from now if your order is less than Rs 500, get prepared to pay for shipping. The e-commerce war is heating up and as the price war on products continues, Flipkart is taking a different route. Although, Flipkart probably feels they have created enough authority for themselves to take such a bold move. In fact, as far as books are concerned, I don’t even check on any other website until and unless the book is not available on Flipkart.
Till now, Flipkart used to have free shipping on orders above Rs 300. For orders below this amount, the shipping charges were Rs 30. Now, you’ll be charged Rs 50 for all orders below Rs 500.
I am a little sad with this move because I buy a lot of books from Flipkart and tend to gift a lot too. With this the cost of ownership of a book will definitely go higher. Maybe some books might even cost more as compared to your corner bookstore from whom you can manage a small discount anyways.
Well, maybe I’ll have to consider e-books now or wait till my wishlist costs more than Rs 500. The general consumer purchase trend is to look for the cheapest place to get whatever they want. Price has always been a deciding factor with online purchases in India. With that, I think this move can affect Flipkart a little.
In fact, you must have also noticed that Flipkart is no longer the cheapest place to buy stuff online, be it books, electronics or anything else. Other e-commerce stores like Infibeam, BuyThePrice, HomeShop18, etc. have managed to have lower prices than Flipkart.
So, Flipkart doesn’t have low prices anymore, they charge more for shipping and sometimes send stones instead of iPods. The last thing was intended pun really. But as an online purchaser, what is your response to this?
