Ahead of Amazon, Flipkart introduces subscription-based premier service 'Flipkart First'

As the e-commerce battle hots up in India, Flipkart has launched Flipkart First, a subscription-based service that provides its members a host of exclusive benefits along with priority service features. E-commerce in India seems to be going through a differentiator war. Players like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and Shopclues are launching a slew of new features to differentiate from one another.

The exclusive benefits from Flipkart’s new service include free shipping (irrespective of order size), one day guaranteed delivery, two months replacement policy, priority service from customer support among others.

Flipkart is also inviting customers to submit their email for this service. The online marketplace will randomly select 75,000 customers who will be able to avail of the Flipkart First service free of cost for the first three months.

Speaking about the launch, Binny Bansal, Co-founder and COO, said, “As pioneers in the supply-chain space, we have always looked at launching innovative services and features to enhance customer experience in online shopping in India. We have a pulse on the Indian market and consumer trends. Today, the Indian customer is maturing, looking at value over cost, and services like these will push the ecosystem to another level.”

Amazon had introduced privileged subscription service -- Amazon Prime in the US, which has been extremely successful there. However, the Seattle-based company didn’t launch it in India.

To woo more consumers, e-commerce players in India have been introducing new features and categories. Earlier this year, Snapdeal and eBay launched a same-day delivery service which allows consumers to get products ordered on the same day in Delhi (NCR) and Mumbai respectively without any additional cost.

The launch of this service by Snapdeal and eBay came on the heels of e-commercemajor Flipkart and Amazon’s roll out of premier shipping service (with additional cost) in India last year. Most recently, Ibibo-owned marketplace -- Tradus introduced grocery delivery in Delhi.