What is one unique thing that happened to Flipkart on February 6, 2014?
- On 6 Feb, the traffic on Flipkart was twice of what it sees on an average day.
- On 6 Feb, the traffic on Flipkart was more than the peak traffic on Diwali
- On 6 Feb, Flipkart crashed due to this traffic
- On 6 Feb, Flipkart's page views increased by 100 per cent
- On February 6, inbound calls to Flipkart's customer support number doubled
On 6 Feb, Motorola launched its much awaited budget phone - 'Moto G' in India EXCLUSIVELY through Flipkart. And not very surprisingly 67% of that traffic was driven by a single event - the launch of Moto G.
Why this exclusivity in the age of mass production?
Motorola was blatantly defying the basic principles of micro economics - that increased distribution would drive more volumes which in turn would lead to economies of scale. While the second lag of relationship holds true (more volumes = less cost), Motorola dared to change the first leg of equation (more distribution channels = more volumes). Increased distribution does not necessarily mean more volumes. In this case exclusive distribution was driving more volumes. It is estimated that in the first 15 minutes only Flipkart sold 20,000 units of this model and went stock out. While strictly not comparable, but Moto G's volumes are putting several other brands to shame.
Flipkart even bettered the show with Redmi which was launched recently on Flipkart exclusively. The launch stats can be availed on the net.
Online shopping is fast catching up with Indians, thanks to several conveniences such as user reviews, comparing specs, one-month replacement and most importantly cash on delivery. No wonder this first-of-its-kind launch strategy comes from Motorola, which was still a Google owned company. Who other than the god of internet would better understand the prowess of internet exclusivity and viral marketing.
In a follow up to this article I will ponder more into the courier sector since increasing proportion of B2C volumes would now be funneled via online sales and offline distribution
Till then, happy surfing
Ankit Sanghvi
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