So, we all love Flipkart!
Clap Clap.
It’s delivery to small towns is amazing, and its responsiveness to business & consumer service is great.
Yipeeee!!!
Now, say 1 year later, when Rediff, Amazon, Infibeam, Crosswords.com (if at all), etc etc have the SAME service – how valuable will any one Company be JUST on the basis of great service?
Case in point:
Jet Airways replaced the crappy Indian Airlines and made horrible Indian Air Travel lots of fun!
Jet was the BEST thing that happened to the Indian Skies and thankfully still remain ‘air borne’.
BUT check the business and financial challenges of Jet Airways. Each quarter is a STRUGGLE for them to remain profitable and be valuable to the Stock Markets.
Remember KINGFISHER Airways?
It was supposed to be the BAAP of Jet Airways:
Hot Air Hostesses, free pens, in-screen entertainment, free ear phones etc etc
It was the BEST wrapping paper you would have ever seen.
But as the Present got slowly unwrapped and unveiled, its seemed to be a HOLLOW BOX.
Kingfisher is Bankrupt.
They had everything right but a business!!!
Now throw in Indigo…
They DONT SERVE COFFEE AND TEA in the flight. The seats are restrictive. Even a sandwich costs money. Its the ANTI THESIS of Kingfisher.
BUT THEY ARE 100% FULL – and the MOST profitable airline in India.
THEY HAVE AN AMAZING PRESENT – wrapper paper or not.
My point is:
– Sooner than later, nice ‘enhancements’ of an existing consumer product will surely catch consumer traction. The point is WHAT WILL SUSTAIN IT?
Remember Crosswords totally changed the ways books were bought and sold in India!
We slowly but steadily all became Crossword fans.
But today a 1 year old website – flipkart.com threatens to bring a 15 year legacy – Crosswords on its knees
The SUSTAINABILITY comes from a Sound BUSINESS MODEL ( read lowest cost of consumer acquisition + operations with MORE REVENUE).
Read carefully!
I dont SAY MAX REVENUE – I mean who the F**** flies Business Class in a Mumbai – Delhi flight other than spoilt VC’s and some Govt. Babu’s??
Indigo is much lower revenue per seat – BUT EVEN LOWER in COST in making that seat fly!!!
So, mota moti – if you can be RELEVANT and PROFITABLE – its a good wicket to be on.
Crossword was profitable but lost its relevance BY NOT GOING ONLINE. That was their tragedy!
– I think the concept of ‘CONSUMER DELIGHT’ is very very soon going to become a commodity – a common lowest denominator. Something that EVERYONE will expect from any brand!
I mean just informing me that my order is in the courier or a hostess smiling when I enter a plane or an operator greeting me properly on a call is going to be COMMON STUFF. TAKEN FOR GRANTED.
And that’s because we all see openly what’s around us that delights us and simply copy it and make it better.
Yet NO ONE except a select few know how to run a SOUND BUSINESS.
It will be making sure that each business is conceptually profitable and more importantly SUSTAINABLE.
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I used to love Kingfisher Air Hostesses, but I can live without them.
I love being home for dinner and Indigo makes sure I do that. So if I can pay less, not stare at an air hostess (who anyways never spoke to me) and be at home all in the same day, I will move to Indigo over Jet or KF – no matter what the silly distractions.
Just focussing on the PRESENT is all it takes. Wrapped or not
******