Flipkart rules tier-II and III cities, Amazon is king in metros

The two top online retailers Flipkart and Amazon are in a close fight in the e-commerce sector in India. While Flipkart holds sway in tier-II and tier-III cities, Seattle-headquartered Amazon takes a lead in metro cities, according to the research and advisory firm RedSeer Consulting.

The report was first published in Mint.

The report comes after the festive season sales when two giants Flipkart and Amazon fought a very close battle.

Flipkart maintained its lead over its rival Amazon India in a market during the festive season sales, where total sales are estimated to have surged by up to 40 percent over last year’s events. The Bengaluru-based company emerged as the winner in the overall festival season battle of this year.

However, four-year-old Amazon India is also at the rival’s heels and is the next formidable player in the space. Experts believe that Prime has been a cornerstone of Amazon India’s performance over the last three-four quarters. The service has also vastly helped improve the perception of delivery experience.

E-tailing Leadership Index

Besides, on the consulting firm’s E-tailing Leadership Index (ELI) scale -- which is a comprehensive assessment into how consumers in India view and interact with e-tailing -- the two firms observed a slump in their overall scores. Flipkart and Amazon were tied with a score of 92 for the July-September period, compared with a score of 95 in the previous quarter.

Other online platforms such as such as ShopClues, Paytm, Snapdeal and eBay India didn’t fare well as their ratings also fell on the ELI scale.  

Snapdeal’s ratings witnessed a fall of six points to 73. At the same time, Paytm scored 65 with a 12-point decline. Paytm took a hit on metrics such as brand recall and customer satisfaction. ShopClues stood at 41; and eBay India, which was acquired by Flipkart in April, scored the lowest with 35.

Though RedSeer did not explain the reason for the fall in scores, typically it is observed on factors of returns orders and customer satisfaction. The fall in scores might have ensued, owing to the festival season of past months, when the e-commerce companies witnessed high orders and returns as well.