Check out this recommendation I received from Flipkart recently:
Now, here is the killer:
– 5 of the 10 books suggested are PERFECT recommendations for me. They are bang on.
– 1 out of 10 is bizarre – I mean why the hell will I buy a Gambling book?
– 1 out of 10 is interesting (The Red Version of the Autobiography of a Yogi). I buy and gift the Blue Book (for a reason), but at least Flipkart is offering me a variant (and a less expensive) one at that. They are making me discover and curious.
– I am puzzled by the recommendation to buy CRASH. I think I’ve seen the movie but I can’t remember it. I am scratching my head as to why they have recommended the same.
So, this is what makes me hope for better things to come:
– Amazon perfected ‘recommended for you’.
( I hope they don’t have a patent on the idea as a business process). This is a proven growth engine and does not cost any money.
– Flipkart is now figuring out its customers and drilling and mining their consumption patterns.
At least someone is making presumptions on what I want (and almost perfectly) – rather than Pepperfry that is asking me to buy a bed everyday!
Side Shout – HEY YOU PEPPERFRY – I don’t know what you do every night, but I don’t break my bed everyday! I’ve been sleeping on the same bed for the past 22 years now!! So go, get a life and suggest toilet paper or something like that to me instead.
– Now, if 50% of Flipkart’s recommendations are bang on, that’s a big one!
Simply look at it this way:
If I have bought say 10 items from Flipkart in the past, with an average ticket size of say Rs 200/-, that’s Rs 2000 spent.
Now, if Flipkart is suggesting 5 items that cost Rs 200 each (blended), that’s an additional potential sale of Rs 1000/- that I can be made to generate.
Hence if Sales can be ‘regenerated’ to the extent of 50-100% by a customer, that means that the cost of Flipkart to acquire and retain customers can begin to fall rapidly.
That’s a lot, assuming that everyone sometimes or the other succumbs to targeted and perfect suggestions!
Of course, this kicks in only when their deliveries and their business becomes profitable! Else, every new sale (via ads or direct or viral or recommendation) is a loss!
– Recommendations is the New Loyalty!
This is a big differentiator for Flipkart!
No other e-commerce site (I have bought from a few including Pepperfry) has sent me a recommendation. Now it’s possible that I did not buy enough or buy from more established players, but who cares? I don’t remember them. I don’t care for them. I may never go back to them!
If Flipkart has sent me this, I will buy from them, and the process and cycle will snowball.
Well done Flipkart. You won a brownie from me today!
Errrr…. NO, I’m not gonna ship it free to you 🙂
*****
Response received from Flipkart on 24-8-2012!!
******