Flipkart.com was at one point of time represented the boom in online shopping. One of the first who used financial muscle to spend heavily on advertising and marketing. Price warrior on most fronts.
But it seems of late that they no longer want to be the cheapest. It seems they happy just letting the image they have created to let people come and buy stuff from them.
Evidence of this can be found on price comparison sites like 91mobilles.com, mysmartprice.com and pricedealsindia.com. You can search for any category of goods and you'll find it cheaper on some other website.
The other problem is that the website is no long a seller but a marketplace where all kinds of seller come to sell similar to amazon. Since Amazon launched its Indian site, it is becoming more and more unlikely that it will acquire an existing platform, forcing the e-retailer to be profitable rather than guzzle cash given to it by its VC firms.
The recent round of funding might actually be funding to help it sustain operations for a year or two and finally come with Ipo-able numbers, also increasing VC stake before valuations rise (after turning profitable).
One firm lesson: - buyers should compare prices before buying anything on flipkart.
Second: Flipkart isn't what it used to be. The marketplace makes the website a vulnerable place for buyers who would trust flipkart blindly because of all the marketing hype. Its more important than ever to read the fine-print. On every website. Or simply go out and enjoy buying from your favourite Croma/Mobile Store.
Sent from my BlackBerry®
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