Amazon Vs Flipkart Vs Snapdeal | Amazon Prime Vs Flipkart Assured Vs Snapdeal Gold

A report filed by Morgan Stanley based on statistical study indicated the leaders in e-market India is Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal. The market share in that report gives Flipkart the lead with 44 per cent with Snapdeal trailing at 34 per cent and the tail end being brought up by Amazon at 15 per cent. The point to be noted is that Amazon entered the ecommerce fray in India only in 2013. Within a span of just one year and a half, Amazon had touched the 1 billion USD sales figures making it the fastest company in the Indian region to have reached such figures.

The people at the helm

Agarwal he workaholic driving Flipkart has been known to be an aggressive person by nature. Kunal Behl the CEO of Flipkart is also a man of same nature, like most other heads in the Indian e-commerce market. Bahl has opined the margin between Flipkart and Snapdeal is not of much consequence when it comes to statistical figures. FreeCharge, a mobile transaction company recently added on by Snapdeal would further bring down this margin as per Bahl. Amit Agarwal heading Amazon India operations however claims that they have now taken second spot behind Flipkart. A fresh investment of 3 billion USD in June has brought about this shift in the market ranking. Flipkart being the first to set up their operation in India has advantage of that lead which they continue to hold. This as per their CEO, who insists that trust established with customers is one reason why they rule the roost.

Operation and finances

Everyone is aware today on the role that these three players have in the marketing and delivery of the item to the ultimate consumer. Each of them provides products from various outlets to the customer. They are offering 24/7 support for customers in their marketing and receipt of items. Offering customers the facility of cash on delivery and even permitting return of items in case not suitable to the customer.

These services are something which all three online retailers are offering. The customer therefore looks for more and that is where the difference between them is looked at. The strategy that they are now applying is a battle that has moved onto the television sets and the advertisements shown there. Also on the print media their warfare is evident. The social media and the World Wide Web naturally are not left out. Each is trying to outdo the other is being the first to announce some particular category of launch. Amazon has in its staff, individuals who have expertise in data analysis. The work of these people is to come up with strategic pricing ideas that would make the other players lose out on the customer base if they do not respond in equal manner and swiftly. Amazon having entered the market last is applying this strategy very viciously making Flipkart bleed financially. It is therefore a game of who has more stamina to sustain in the market. The real seller of the item does not agree to the price cut that these three e-retailers are offering to the ultimate customers.

Therefore Amazon, Flipkart or Snapdeal has to fill in that gap. The term used is gap funding, which the players have to indulge in intelligently. The amount of money each of these players loses out is termed as burn rate, and undeclared study indicates a burn out of some 100 billion USD every month by them with Flipkart leading in this aspect too. Gaining market share means funding the sellers by covering the discount which the customer gains the product for. Studies conducted by the three main players indicate that the Indian market would need a further influx of such funding process for another year and half. This aspect however has not been agreed to by financial experts.

To summaries the financial conclusion:-

Amazon though entered in the Indian market the latest has much larger experience in global e-commerce as well as the financial backing.
Flipkart has entered the Indian market earliest with sound financial backing; however their strategies are more Amazon clones.
Snapdeal is a relative market player when compared with the other two and yet in the process of establishing themselves.

The comparison for consumers

While these aspects provide an overview of the strength and stability that can be expected from these major players, if the aspect of consumers wanting to know gains they would obtain from each of them. A brief table to provide some indicators of comparing the three:-

Factors	Flipkart	Amazon	Snapdeal
Search filter	Most Indianised	Moderately Indianised	Average
Customer Service	Good	Best	Average
Own Logistic support	Have	Have	In process
Core Focus	Customer based	Customer and Seller	Seller based
Quality control	Good	Best	Average
Investments	Changes frequently	Long Term	No policy

A more Indianised search filter means the products that would be uppermost in a customer from India is what gets filtered. Flipkart being more biased towards customer needs have the search filter customized thus.
Amazon has made rapid progress by emulating their well tested customer service practices in the global market here in India.
The fact that Flipkart and Amazon have their own logistic services means the reliability and speed of delivery of products ordered via their channel would be higher and faster.
Amazon has made a mark once again with the stringent quality control practice that they adhere to. There is the issue of money back guarantee in case of faulty product being offered by other two players. Yet, receiving product that meets complete order at the first go is always a better option to go for.
With Amazon having a proper investment plan in place, customers can expect the services to be available on similar scale for long time period. Flipkart though having investment plans has not been able to stabilize the same till now. Snapdeal have only recently thought of the need for such an investment plan.

Comparing the Indian e-market or e-commerce to the western market shows the nascent stage that this market is at present. Amazon and Flipkart it appears are going to bring about some major changes to this scenario and would remain the most forward players with Snapdeal being the unsure of trailer.

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