FLIPKART INTERNET PRIVATE LIMITED Graduation Project in14.139.111.26/jspui/bitstream/1/787/1/Pragati...
Transcript of FLIPKART INTERNET PRIVATE LIMITED Graduation Project in14.139.111.26/jspui/bitstream/1/787/1/Pragati...
FLIPKART INTERNET PRIVATE
LIMITED
Graduation Project in
WOMEN’S CLOTHING
DEVELOPMENT OF FRINGE VERTICALS OF WOMEN’S CLOTHING
VPL BRANDS (METRONAUT AND DIVASTRI)
Submitted By:
PRAGATI KHANNA
MFM/16/58
BATCH : 2016 – 2018
MASTERS OF FASHION MANAGEMENT
(MFM)
DEPARTMENT OF FASHION MANAGEMENT STUDIES
(FMS)
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY
(NIFT)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to convey my heartiest gratitude to my mentor Mr. Sushil
Raturi, my course leader Mr. Yashwant Misale, my industry mentor Mr.
Tanmoy Chakraborty and colleagues for intensifying my learning curve.
Without their guidance and support, this project would not have been
possible. Their unwavering support and encouragement directly or
indirectly accompanied me, and made my work much easier. Specifically, I
would like to thank my friends at the NIFT and elsewhere for their
cooperation and support throughout.
Regards
Pragati Khanna
DECLARATION OF ORIGIONALITY
I hereby declare that this report is an original report done by me. All the
data that has been previously published and written by someone has been
dutifully referenced and used. The report has been done under the
guidance of my faculty and industry mentor and their assurance to let me
go ahead has been fully acknowledged.
Name: Pragati Khanna
Masters of Fashion Management
NIFT MUMBAI
CERTIFICATE BY FACULTY MENTOR
This IS to certify that the internship project “Development of Fringe
verticals of Women’s Clothing VPLs – Metronaut Woman and
Divastri” is prepared by Pragati Khanna for the partial fulfillment of the
degree of Masters of Fashion Management. This report is her original work
and done under my supervision.
Prof. Sushil Raturi
Masters of Fashion Management
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY
MUMBAI
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PARTICULARS PAGE NO.
1. 1.1 GLOBAL E-COMMERCE 1.2 FLIPKART AND E-COMMERCE IN INDIA
1.3 FLIPKART’S LIFESTYLE DIVISION 1.4 MARKET PLACE
1.5 VIRTUAL PRIVATE LABEL AND PRIVATE LABEL
1.5.1 METRONAUT WOMAN
1.5.2 DIVASTRI
1 5
8 9
9
11
12
2.
PROJECT UNDERTAKEN
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 TIMELINE OF THE PROJECT
2.2.1 RESEARCH
2.2.2 OPTION PLANS
(I) METRONAUT SHIRTS (II) METRONAUT SCARVES
(III) METRONAUT SOCKS (IV) DIVASTRI DUPATTAS
(V) DIVASTRI NIGHT WEAR GOWNS (VI) DIVASTRI BLOUSE
2.3 VENDOR MANAGEMENT
2.4 SAMPLING
I) SAMPLES II) MAINTAINING TRACKER
III)DESIGNER COMMENTS IV) QC APPROVAL
V) COMMENTS
VI) REVISED SAMPLES
2.5 PHOTOSHOOT
2.6 CATALOGUING
2.7 LAUNCH
14
15
15
21
23 24
25 26
28 29-30
31-32
33
33 33
33 34
34
35
36-40
41-43
44
2.8 AFTER-SALE ANALYSIS 44-45
3 LEARNING OUTCOMES
47
4 REFLECTION
48
BIBLIOGRAPGY
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CHAPTER 1
1.1 GLOBAL E - COMMERCE
➢ Global Retail Ecommerce Sales Will Reach $4.5 Trillion by 2021
Cumulative data from Statista anticipates a 246.15% increase in worldwide ecommerce
sales, from $1.3 trillion in 2014 to $4.5 trillion in 2021. That’s a nearly threefold lift in
online revenue.
Numbers of that scale are often hard to wrap our heads around. They’re at once both
invigorating and mind-boggling.
Fig. 1 (https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/global-ecommerce-statistics)
“B2B business is now dwarfing that of the B2C business.”
The dominance of B2B ecommerce means at least two things.
First, self-service is on the rise. Data from CEB Now Gartner found that “customers
are 57 percent of the way through a typical purchase process prior to proactively
reaching out to a supplier’s sales rep.” This doesn’t eliminate the need for a sales staff,
but it does give ecommerce a distinct advantage.
Second, wholesale customers — namely, independent retailers, small-to-medium
franchises, and B2C outlets — largely prefer a simplified ordering experience. This
eliminates the need to invest your wholesale portal with all the bells and whistles of
B2C ecommerce.
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➢ Ecommerce Expansion Typically Follows a Three-Stage Global Path
Fig. 1 (https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/global-ecommerce-statistics)
Forrester research indicates that digital businesses “tend to follow a similar path and
prioritize the same list of countries.” The list of countries included in each phase are
listed above, but what’s important is to consider the characteristics of each “wave.”
Top-tier markets
• Large and developed ecommerce presence
• Smaller markets with strong physical infrastructures
• Ripe product markets within smaller overall markets
Second wave
• Early-stage ecommerce development
• Complex domestic regulations
• Digitally advanced countries but small market sizes
Wait and see
• Uncertain political climates
• Emerging ecommerce markets with long-term potential
• Challenging infrastructures
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➢ Online Payment Preferences Vary Around the World
Fig 2: (https://www.technavio.com/report/global-media-and-entertainment-services-global-e-commerce-market-
2016-2020)
Online payment methods weigh heavily on buying decisions and local preferences vary
depending on the country.
Still, it’s easy to overlook how people pay. Cultural-centricity blinds us to the
differences in buying habits. Without carefully considering the data, we default to
whatever payment methods have been working for us domestically.
It’s no surprise that in North America, credit cards are number one by a mile. Digital
payment systems like PayPal and Apple Pay are a close second. At the global scale,
credit cards — 53% — and those same digital payment systems — 43% — also
dominate.
Unlike North America, cash on delivery is the number one choice in Eastern Europe,
India, Africa, and throughout the Middle East. Similarly, enabling direct debit is a must
if your target markets include India, Africa, and both China as well as Southeast Asia
and the Pacific (listed as “Asia” above).
For some, the differences in preference are small. For others, the gap is wide.
➢ Social Media and App-Only Shopping Trends
This e-commerce industry analysis observes that vendors are beginning to switch from
website platforms to app-only services. There has been an increase in consumer
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shopping transactions through mobile apps and social media platforms. Instagram just
recently added an update for e-commerce vendors to include a link to directly purchase
the products featured in the uploaded photo.
Social media advertising is also a continuously developing trend that allows vendors to
use display banner ads and sponsored content to attract customers. For developing
countries with internet connectivity issues (such as Africa, India, and South Korea), this
shift to app-only shopping can pose quite a challenge as it restricts customers from
making purchases.
➢ Competitive E-Commerce Market Trends
This e-commerce industry analysis identifies APAC as the fastest growing e-commerce
region with a tremendous CAGR of more than 25%. Our e-commerce market analysts
predict that increasing internet penetration, the high purchasing power of the middle
class and the growing adoption of smart technologies will help promote this exponential
growth over the next four years. Local APAC e-commerce vendors dominate this
region’s market by restricting foreign influence and thus maintaining revenue growth.
➢ Home Appliance Segment
E-commerce market application segments include home appliances, clothing and
footwear, books, cosmetics, electronics, baby goods, groceries and more. According to
this ecommerce industry analysis, the home appliances segment is the largest segment
by revenue, accounting for more than 32% of the total global ecommerce market share
in 2015. Some trends affecting the growth of home appliance e-commerce segment
include increased recycling and the demand for smart energy options.
➢ Competitive landscape and key vendors
The global e-commerce market is highly competitive due to the presence of many large
established players. Vendors contend in terms of product portfolio, pricing, delivery and
payment options, return policies, and discounts and offers. To increase their profit
margins and extend their geographic presence, vendors in the global e-commerce
industry are making investments in planning, designing, and developing their services
and acquiring new players. The strong positions of the established vendors and long
break-even periods will restrict the entry of new players in the market over the forecast
period.
Leading vendors covered in the e commerce industry analysis are:
Alibaba
• Amazon.com
• Apple • eBay
• PayPal
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Other prominent vendors featured in this e-commerce market research report include
ASOS.com, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Costco, GameStop, Groupon, J. C. Penney and
Walmart.
1.2 FLIPKART AND E-COMMERCE IN INDIA
Fig.4 (http://www.flipkartcareers.com/work-in-india.php)
Through regular sales, exclusive launches and flash sales, e-commerce platforms have
been able to create and maintain demand to make online shoppers come back on a
regular basis. The ultimate vision though for e-commerce companies is to make online
shopping a daily or recurring habit. Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal have all tried this
through different means.
Flipkart, India’s most valuable Internet start-up, has retained the prized tag of being the
country’s most popular e-commerce brand for the fourth straight quarter.
According to the fourth version of the RedSeer E-tailing Leadership Index (ELI),
Flipkart (Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd) has maintained its lead over rivals such as Amazon
India (Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd) and Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd) in the
e-commerce rankings with a total score of 97—the same score that it notched up during
the last quarter.
Flipkart is an Indian company serving in the
electronic commerce sector and headquartered
in Bengaluru, India. It was founded in October
2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal (no
relation). Flipkart has launched its own product
range under the name "DigiFlip" with products
including tablets, USB flash drives, and laptop
bags. As of April 2018, the company is valued
at $20 billion.
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Fig. 5 (http://www.flipkartcareers.com/work-in-india.php)
More aspirational products and high-value items such as premium phones, consumer
electronics and appliances were bought this year. For Flipkart, about half of these sales
on their platform were made using their 'No Cost EMI and Product Exchange' option.
Since banks are banned from providing zero-interest EMIs, online retailers are
collaborating with non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) such as Bajaj Finserv. A
survey conducted by Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance found that for 83 percent of the
e-buyers are strongly influenced to make purchases because of financing offers.
Enabling the customer with attractive and on-demand options, therefore, becomes key.
Initiatives like these along with cashbacks offered by the likes of Paytm, FreeCharge,
and CashKaro, and loans extended by NBFC platforms like Zestmoney—which provide
EMI options for consumers who don’t own credit cards—have boosted e-commerce
sales.
Flipkart’s numbers were helped mainly because of greater brand recall among
consumers, even as it improved on key metrics such as product assortment and lower
product prices.
In the last few years, if there is one industry that has taken center stage in India, it is e-
commerce. Online marketplaces are changing the way India shops. While the e-
commerce in our country is a multi billion-dollar industry, it is not just the big guns that
have profited from it. There are lakhs of small and medium entrepreneurs who joined
the e-commerce bandwagon as sellers and are witnessing significant growth in their
business. So, whether you are a large-scale business, small entrepreneur or plan to start
your own business, e-commerce is your biggest business opportunity. Here’s why:
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Low investment — High returns
The first challenge any aspiring businessman faces is having the capital required to start
a business. To start your business as an online seller, you need minimal investment to
build an inventory and start selling. Apart from your inventory, the only resource you
will need to get started is a computer and a reliable Internet connection.
Most businesses require you to rent or buy a space to set up a business, but e-commerce
does not. No shop or warehouses are required to get started. In fact, you don’t even need
extra manpower if you are partnering with an e-commerce company that has a strong
and efficient logistics network.
Benefits aplenty
As the proverb goes: “Opening a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art”. Managing a
business is indeed a task tougher than setting it up. But managing your business on an
e-commerce platform is easy with the help and support an online marketplace provides
you. Any business related issues at your end are taken care of by the e-commerce
company you are associated with. All you need to focus on is your business expansion
and upholding the quality of your products.
No special technical skills required
One of the biggest myths that still prevail is that one needs to have some technical skills
to operate in an online marketplace. But the reality is that if you can browse the Internet,
surf through websites and can check emails, you are technically skilled enough to
become an online seller.
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1.3 FLIPKART’S LIFESTYLE DIVISION
LIFESTYLE DEPARTMENT
The lifestyle department has been divided into 4 parts that is headed by each of the
Director, Assistant director, Senior managers and then Managers.
The four departments namely are:
1. Women’s clothing
2. Men’s clothing
3. Kid’s clothing
4. Accessories
The men’s clothing is the highest grossing department in the Lifestyle category of
Flipkart and second comes the Women’s clothing. The third is the kid’s category and
the last is the bags and accessories.
Fig. 6 (http://www.flipkartcareers.com/work-in-india.php)
PRIVATE LABEL
VIRTUAL PRIVATE LABEL
MARKET PLACE
MEN'S CLOTHING WOMEN'S CLOTHING ACCESSORIES KID'S CLOTHING
LIFESTYLE
FLIPKART
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Mostly all the departments work from the Market place exception being few of the
private labels that have been introduced by Flipkart.
1.4 MARKET PLACE
The Flipkart Marketplace platform is essentially a virtual mall giving shoppers access
to multiple brands and sellers under one roof. Going forward users will be able to
compare sellers and get the best prices at varied service levels for most products. On the
other hand, sellers stand to benefit from the trust that Flipkart has built with its users by
building a robust and scalable e-commerce platform.
A true e-commerce marketplace adheres to the standards and directions of a zero
inventory model.The e-commerce marketplace becomes a digital platform for
consumers and merchants without warehousing the products. Marketplaces do offer
shipment, delivery and payment help to merchants by tying up with some selected
logistics companies and financial institutions.
Fig. 7 (http://www.flipkartcareers.com/work-in-india.php)
1.5 VIRTUAL PRIVATE LABEL AND PRIVATE LABEL
Virtual private Labels and Private Labels do not have much difference based on the fact
that they are sold on the same market place model.
The basic difference between these two models is the designer’s guidance and it’s
ability to make decisions. The brands namely – Divastri and Metronaut are headed under
Virtual Private Labels and “Anmi” is the Private label.
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Fig. 8 (http://www.flipkartcareers.com/work-in-india.php)
The above picture shows how the age groups between 18-35 years are the most
influencers and shoppers online and this the market which Flipkart wants to tap with
the help of Divastri and Metronaut for which I has worked.
Divastri, Metronaut and Anmi products are put under 'Flipkart Assured' scheme – which
means they have gone through six steps of quality check. Flipkart’s initial focus, is on
establishing the private label’s positioning in terms of quality, design, and pricing,
which in turn will lead to sales and revenue.
After focusing on growth for a decade, this ten-year-old company is now endeavoring for
profitability. These labels are the only factors that can assure profit for marketplaces,
for which sellers’ commission is much lesser than the logistics costs itself. Flipkart gains
absolute control over quality and pricing. Women’s ethnic wear has a few renowned
brands, and Flipkart is focussed on this category. To maintain quality, Flipkart claims,
each fabric has been defined to have certain standards in terms of weight per meter,
composition, yarn count/density, and ensure that they are shrink- proof with zero-colour
loss.
Flipkart provides the design, branding and labels, but sellers manufacture them
following the set standards of quality. Once the manufacturing is done, they get
approval for quality from third-party global agencies, and then they are able to list it.
Rishi claims that since women’s ethnic wear is a long tail category, there is no conflict
of interest with other sellers who sell unbranded items.
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1.5.1 METRONAUT WOMAN:
After the launch of its first private label for women’s ethnic wear Divastri, Flipkart
Fashion launched a private label named Metronaut for women’s smart casual wear and
accessories.
Positioned as an aspirational brand, Metronaut will offer a choice of tees, shirts, jeans,
belts, wallets and sunglasses in 300 styles.
“Metronaut is a combination of Metro + Astronaut, with the black and white logo
designed to resemble a spaceship. The brand is targeted at youth migrating to metros
with hopes and dreams about building a bright future for themselves,”
Stating that Metronaut styles are contemporary and smart at affordable sub-₹1,000
price-points, Vasudev said new collections will be launched every 2-3 months.
Women’s apparel has been one of the largest and fastest growing categories in the online
lifestyle space in India, and Flipkart has been a dominant player in this category with
close to 30 per cent market share.
At present, Flipkart has 35 per cent market share of the overall fashion e-commerce
market and along with Myntra and Jabong, the firm leads with 70 per cent share of the
fashion e-commerce market in India.
On the estimated demand for Metronaut, apparel is a one-lakh-crore market wherein,
sub-₹1,000 apparel constitutes 60 per cent of the demand. While there are strong global
woman’s wear brands and home-grown brands with popular product lines, it gives a
huge opportunity to offer a high-quality, well-designed, affordable product line that will
take on the unorganized market — that’s where Metronaut comes in. Metronaut tees
and socks are priced between ₹350–550 all designed by an in-house team. E- retailers
are introducing private labels as the higher margins they get from private labels will
steer them to the path of profitability in a business where margins are wafer thin.
VIRTUAL PRIVATE LABEL
DIVASTRI WOMAN
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1.5.2 DIVASTRI
Divastri was Flipkart’s first private label in the fashion category to tap into the demand
for women's ethnic wear. With the launch of Divastri, the brand offers unstitched
garments category, typically served by long tail merchants in a bid to control quality
and pricing in the segment.
According to Flipkart, fashion accounts for more than 60% of all units sold on the online
platform.Of this, nearly half the units sold are in the ethnic wear and Indian
contemporary wear category, thus Divastri had been launched to fetch the major sales
in Ethnic wear. In its latest effort in this regard, women’s ethnic wear ‘Divastri’ includes
more than 1,500 styles of sarees, lehenga cholis, and dress materials.
All Divastri products will be under 'Flipkart Assured' scheme – which means they have
gone through six steps of quality check. Flipkart’s initial focus is on establishing the
private label’s positioning in terms of quality, design, and pricing, which in turn leads
to sales and revenue.
Currently, Flipkart has selected 20 sellers for Divastri, based on performance history,
design capabilities, quality standards, manufacturing and sourcing capabilities. It plans
to increase the number in due course.
Flipkart provides the design, branding and labels, but sellers manufacture them
following the set standards of quality. Once the manufacturing is done, they get
approval for quality from third-party global agencies, and then they are able to list it.
Divastri is not particularly of lower ASP (average selling price), but value for money.
Personalisation is essential for higher conversion and repeat customers. Every time a
customer browses through the site, Flipkart collects data on that person’s interests and
shows more relevant selection next time.
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CHAPTER 2
PROJECTS UNDERTAKEN
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2.1 INTRODUCTION
To initially start working on any kind of project in an industry under a particular
brand, it always makes sure the employee/internee is well aware of the department,
it’s workings and especially it’s merchandise and their target customers. Only then we
can have a thorough learning in the Fourth month process in the organization.
Objectives of this project were :
➢ To conduct a market research for understanding of Verticals, Design, Pricing,
Fabric.
➢ To develop appropriate Option & Stock Plan
➢ To efficiently manage the vendors in parallel with the Flipkart team
➢ To effectively manage Internal Stakeholders while Working with different
design and Business Teams.
➢ To conduct after sales analysis and check for changes if necessary.
Project Deliverables were:
PROJECT DELIVERABLES
Developing Option Plans
Cataloguing
After Sales Analysis
Stakeholder Management
Vendor Management
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2.2. TIMELINE OF THE PROJECT
The project I had started was put into 8 steps in the 14 weeks of my internship. The
eight step project’s major deliverables were:
Fig. 9: (Source : Author)
2.2.1. RESEARCH:
• An extensive research was done to check the potential of the women’s
clothing verticals.
• The attributes that were specially taken care of were:
1. Every vertical’s Units sold, Average monthly sales and revenue earned.
2. Top ten sellers in each vertical.
3. Seller’s monthly units sold and the revenue generated.
4. The competitive price points in which they were already playing.
5. Taking note of specific styles, pattern, design and fabric.
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The basic objective was to see that how all the verticals were performing in the
Women’s clothing and how could we target the verticals for best sales. The below image
shows that how many units are sold and the revenue they generate for determining the
average selling price I could have kept for a particular product.
STEP 1:
Fig. 10: (Source : Author)
STEP 2:
Fig. 11: (Source: Author)
ASP REVENUE UNITS SOLD PARTICULARS
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The second step as a part of my research was to figure out the best selling vendors or
sellers in their particular categories. The research in all of the similar steps were done
for eleven verticals but the verticals that had got Live were Metronaut Women Socks,
Metronaut woman T shirts and Divastri Blouse, Dupattas with the research and option
plan I had made.
The research was done on:
1. Tops
2. T-shirts
3. Shirts
4. Socks
5. Camisoles
6. Nighty
7. Dupatta
8. Blouse
9. Scarves and Stoles
10. Dresses
11. Shorts
STEP 3:
The next step is to check for the important attributes relating to the top five
sellers/vendors of the Flipkart so that the option plan of Metronaut Women was as crisp
as them and could give them a competition. This was done to check the pricing that I
could have kept for their products.
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Fig. 12: (Source: Author)
Fig. 13: (Source: Author)
STEP 4:
This step is the most important step because it gives the clear idea of what prices are the
most selling in the market and at what price point the customer of Flipkart will be
willing to buy. The price bucket is thus one of the most integral parts of the option plan
process.
Fig. 14: (Source: Author)
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Fig. 15: (Source: Author)
STEP 5:
The last step in this research was to put the reference image along with the price and
fabric of the socks. The socks is a very small verticals and hence has very little examples
but otherwise, top 15-20 products of all the verticals are put for the reference image.
This helps us determine the styles that are best doing and those that should be included
in the option Plan.
Fig. 16: (Source: Author)
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Fig. 17: (Source: Author)
Fig. 18: (Source: Author)
The research for all eleven verticals was done in the similar way the snapshots of two
verticals i.e socks and dupattas have been shown which are currently live. All these
were the reference images which would have later helped me in making an optimum
option plan.
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2.2.2. OPTION PLAN
The second step was to thus create an option plan for all the verticals for which
the research had been done. Option plans for Divastri and Metronaut were to be
done and that had to be done keeping in the mind their both’s theme and images
in the market and the kind of what Flipkart wants to portray.
Divastri being an Indian wear brand was particularly targeting the home-makers
of India who would be keen on buying the very culturally advanced yet stylish
merchandise but also that is cheap. Divastri was trying to target women of ages
between above 30/35 and hence the most heavy verticals of Divastri was
Lehenga Choli and Sarees.
On the other head, Metronaut was is pictured as a very aspirational brand for the
youth. Metronaut men has already been launched and it was set to launch for
women now thus the image “Metronaut Man” had created, “Metronaut women”
had to be on the same lines and not deviate from the already established theme.
The major challenge for Metronaut women was that the Men’s clothing is the
highest paying category for Flipkart and yet Metronaut Men was not doing the
kind of business it was expected to make. So now, with the launch of Metronaut
women, it wanted to be the amongst the top verticals for Flipkart’s women’s
clothing. Hence the option plan was very carefully put together.
The option plan included:
1. Style
2. Fabric
3. Price
4. No. of options (either single set or combos)
5. Colors
6. Reference images
The option plan which were created had to be communicated to the seller or
vendor when it was fully made. Thus, Option plans were created in the most
easy communicable language for the sellers/vendors to understand.
The integral part while creating the option plan was to take care of both the “Style
trends” as well as the highest seller products and Flipkart’s target market. The
option plan had to constitute the larger part of the products and styles that were
a hit on the Flipkart’s existing market.
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In case of Metronaut, the following option plans were created:
1. Shirts
2. Socks
3. Camisoles
4. Scarves and stoles
In case of Divastri, the following option plans were created:
1. Nighty
2. Dupatta
3. Blouse
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OPTIONS PLANS
i) METRONAUT SHIRTS
Fig. 19: (Source: Author)
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ii) METRONAUT SCARVES:
Fig. 20: (Source: Author)
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iii) METRONAUT SOCKS: Option plan proposed
(CURRENTLY LIVE ON WEBSITE)
Fig. 21: (Source: Author)
METRONAUT SOCKS LIVE ON FLIPKART (Option Plan implemented)
Fig. 22: (Source: Author)
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iv) DIVASTRI DUPATTAS: Option plan proposed (
CURRENTLY LIVE ON WEBSITE )
Fig. 23: (Source: Author)
Fig. 24: (Source: Author)
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DIVASTRI DUPATTAS LIVE ON FLIPKART (option plan implemented)
:
Fig. 25: (Source: Author)
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v) DIVASTRI NIGHT WEAR GOWNS:
Fig. 26: (Source: Author)
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vi) DIVASTRI BLOUSE: Option plan proposed
(CURRENTLY LIVE ON WEBSITE)
Fig. 27: (Source: Author)
Fig. 28: (Source: Author)
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DIVASTRI BLOUSE LIVE ON FLIPKART (Option Plan implemented):
Fig. 28: (https://www.flipkart.com/search?q=DIVASTRI%20B%3BLOUSE&otracker=start&as-show=on&as=off)
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2.3. VENDOR MANAGEMENT
• While the option plan had been finalised, the suitable vendors were supposed to
be finalised.
• According to the season, the budget of the verticals and as per the deadlines, the
launch of socks and tops for Metronaut woman and Dupattas, blouse for Divastri
was set.
• During the first stage when the research is done, the vendors/sellers who are
doing the most business in the particular vertical are taken note of. The buyers
of the women’s clothing mostly have a prior relationship built with the vendors
which makes it easier for us to take the decisions for the vendors. Or if by chance
the vendors are supposed to be chosen, the sellers who are the doing the most
business online are chosen for the preferred verticals.
• A well formatted contract is established by the legal team of the Flipkart which
binds the business relationship between the seller and the Flipkart. The contract
clearly states that the merchandise that has been launched by the name of
Metronaut or Divastri can not be made available under any brand name of the
seller’s name on any portal.
• A meeting is thus scheduled to convey and meet the seller and finalise the deal.
• Following were the sellers which were chosen out of all the vendors and I had to
travel with my manager to the following places because the sellers were also
needed to be told about the option plans and the dates by when the production
must be complete also.
1.Banjara India for Dupattas (Ahmedabad).
Vendor Management
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2. Miss chase, Maniac (Tirupur) and Campus Sutra for T-shirts.
3. AJ Sports for Socks (New Delhi)
4. Klamotten for Nighty (New Delhi)
• After the necessary clauses have been agreed upon by the seller and also seeing
if he has the production capacity for the target option plan, the deal is closed.
• The deal has to be signed by the seller/vendor and also by any of senior managers
or assistant directors of the company. Only then the deal can be carried ahead.
• One of the important steps after the deal has been finalised is that the sellor
should have been successfully registered under the brand name it wants to sell.
For eg. Banjara India needs to make sure he is a registered seller for Divastri on
Flipkart.
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2.4. SAMPLING
Sample
Updating of
Designer
Quality Check
Comments to
Corrected
PHOTO-
Recieve Tracker commens Approval seller Samples SHOOT
i) SAMPLE RECEIVED:
Once the option plan has been communicated, a tentative date has been given by
the seller and the Flipkart so that the samples are received on time and a proper
track record can be maintained. Constant communication between the seller has
to done and make sure the samples are coming.
ii) UPDATING OF TRACKER:
A tracker by the Quality check team has been made on the google sheets so that
all of the brand’s responsible people can update the trackers and a record can be
made.
The tracker involves the data:
1. Date the sample is received by the company
2. Seller’s name
3. Brand’s name
4. The specific product code that has been given by either the seller or me.
6. The colour of the product
7. The date when the QC team receives the garment
8. The date when the comments have been given by the QC team.
iii) DESIGNER COMMENTS:
In this case of VPL, the designer gives the silhouette and major graphic or text
guidelines to us which we communicate to the seller/vendor. Sometimes, the
designer too communicates directly to the seller, and hence when the sample
comes forward, the designer needs to approve the design or the garment and
mentioning the product code, send me the comments if the sample is approved
or not. And also if any kind of corrections need to be made.
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iv) QUALITY CHECK:
Certain quality measures have been set by the quality check team prior to
receiving the samples. Some of the quality check criterias involve
2. Fabric quality (tear resistant or if the color will bleed)
3. Material used in the garment i.e certain percentage of cotton or polyster.
4. GSM of the garment.
5. Basic things like if there is any colour variation within the garment or any
oil stains during the production process.
6. Checking if the seams and zippers etc are all okay.
v) COMMENTS TO THE SELLER:
Appropriate comments to the seller are communicated in a proper MS Excel
format which were shared by me to the seller.
Fig. 28: (Source: Author)
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Fig. 29: (Source: Author)
vi) CORRECTED SAMPLES:
Once the sample comments have been sent by the team, the seller/vendor is made clear
of the faults and how he could correct them on call for a better understanding. Estimated
time for new samples is almost 10/15 days and we expect the new samples to arrive
within 25 or 30 days. When the new samples come, it goes through the same process of
receiving designer and QC comments and then it is approved and put in the production.
The final products are then sent for the photoshoot.
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2.5. PHOTOSHOOT
This is the step where the cataloguing process begins. Amazon is considered the
Flipkart’s biggest competitors and Myntra is the one which considerably controls most
of the fashion online market. Hence, when the photoshoot guidelines are made
considering Amazon, Myntra, Flipkart’s existing photoshoot and all other major
websites for the particular verticals.
Taking note of all the major cataloguing of the above said websites, a catalog guideline
is submitted to the seller or vendor who is getting the photoshoot done himself. In the
some cases like socks and dupattas, where the photoshoot was conducted by me from the
photoshoot agencies from Delhi and Surat respectively, the guidelines were sent to them
directly.
The snapshots of presentation for the photoshoot guidelines were like:
v) There is a specific backdrop that has been finalised by the marketing team
of Flipkart so that the private labels can be differentiated from the regular
brand on Flipkart and thus this is the backdrop which should be definitely
put.
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vi) For the photographers and the sellers/vendors who get the photoshoot
done by themselves, they have to be provided by the specific model’s
attributes so that the catalogue looks of a premium brand. Only then the
products leave a lasting impression on the audience.
vii) This is a case of photoshoot guideline for Nighty and hence no specific
instructions for hair were given. In some cases like that of Divastri
dupattas which should reflect Indian culture, guidelines for them are
different.
And in case of Nighties, websites like Clovia or Pretty secrets having
better catalogues and thus their reference is given.
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viii) Below are the four shots which would get Live on the Website:
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In cases like Metronaut woman where the Photoshoot was done in Bangalore only, me,
the designer and the stylist of the photoshoot agency were all present. The photoshoot
for Metronaut woman tops was done like:
Fig. 30: (Source: Author)
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This is how the Metronaut woman catalogue now looks like:
Fig. 31: (https://www.flipkart.com/search?q=metronaut+woman&otracker=start&as-show=off&as=off)
Taking this image as a reference, out of many poses, the best and most clear ones are
selected for the website.
Fig. 32: (https://www.flipkart.com/search?q=metronaut+woman&otracker=start&as-show=off&as=off)
These shots included the Style shot, zoomed-in shot, casual shot and the front and
back view together.
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2.6. CATALOGUING
The process of getting images and products live on the website is too long and every
step needs to be done very carefully.
The products can be done Live only from the seller portal by the seller only but the
initial process where the Seller ID is generated and product listing IDs are created was
handled by me.
REFERENCE IMAGE:
Fig. 33: (Source: Author)
• The above image show the File where the FSNs (Flipkart serial numbers) have
been generated. Before the FSNs are generated, a BOF file needs to be submitted
and only then the catalogue team provides the FSNs.
• After the FSNs have been generated for each product, the images with their
respective FSNs are uploaded in the dropbox and then again that file is shared
with catalogue team.
• Once the dropbox links are shared with the team, the images are uploaded on the
website but are not made Live. Getting images live takes more time.
• Hence with the whole process of getting images live is done and then the seller
is merely asked to update the prices at which he wishes to sell the products.
• When the Products have been made live, the products need to get the right
audience for the sale boost, hence, for this purpose the Flipkart’s data base is
checked and in reference to that, specific keywords are put in relation to the
merchandise.
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REFERENCE IMAGE:
Fig. 34: (Source: Author)
After the products have been made live, there are certain size standards that have been
set by the Flipkart QC team which has to be taken care by the sellers/vendors. The size
chart is uploaded after the products have been made live on the website.
A full format of all the measurements of an ideal size are given by the QC team which
has all the characteristics of the garment.
My work was to put the sizing into a jist and a table for the catalogue team to upload.
The size charts are uploaded only on the basis of the attributes of the garment.
Like:
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REFERENCE IMAGES :
Fig. 35: (Source: Author)
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2.7. LAUNCH
After the photos and products have been successfully made live on the website, we had
to make sure that the new products are visible enough on the website. PLA (Product
Listing Advertisements) is to be started. Every brand’s financial and marketing team
decides on the budget for the PLAs and hence, the PLA is started and every weeks bid
can be changed or altered as per the brands approval.
A separate tracker for the Flipkart’s Private Label is maintained where we can see the
daily sales and the orders that start pouring in and the PLA’s can be adjusted according
to those views and orders placed.
A day is decided where the brand which has been launched receives a special mention
on the homepage of Flipkart and that is also assumed to affect the sales.
2.8. AFTER SALES ANALYSIS
REFERENCE IMAGE:
Fig. 36: (Source: Author)
The above picture shows the after-sale analysis that was done by me to further change
or alter the prices and the PLA boost.
These are some of the circumstances which influence the changes in any of the above:
1. The product is not getting any views at all and neither any sales.
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This means that the PLA is not being done on the specific product and the sales
are being severely affected. The aim of the PLAs are to give any product the
maximum views it can get.
Solution: The PLA bid is made much higher and the products that did not get
any views at all are put on first two pages.
2. The product is getting views but is not converting into sales.
Sometimes, the product because of PLA, is visible on the first or second pages
but because of some reason does not the adequate amount of orders.
Mostly in these case, the price is considered to be the factor that is affecting the
orders. Hence, it needs to be resolved.
Solution: The average view what I had considered was 100 views because the
brand was just launched. In this case, the T shirts and socks were getting the
desired number of view but no sales. Thus the price had to be dropped. So, the
products starting at Rs. 599 were asked to re-priced them between Rs. 450 – Rs.
500.
3. The product is getting both views and sales.
This is one of the best cases because in this case, it proves that the PLAs are
working as the product is getting views as well as being ordered. This is the
scenario where Flipkart as a brand and a retailer can make the most business.
Solution: This is one of the most desirable scenarios and thus it means that at
whatever price the products were stated, the target audience was willing to pay
for it. Hence, in this case the products were not re-priced.
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CHAPTER – 3
LEARNING OUTCOMES
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Internship at Flipkart was a great learning experience as it gave me hands on exposure
of working in an organization set-up for the second time. Interning in the Women’s
Clothing gave me a lot of idea on the know-how and functioning of the department, yet,
there will always be a room for more and more learning. This company also taught me
other things like organizational behavior, time management and how to conduct one-
self in a corporate world. My experience couldn’t have been more enriching.
While Interning I gained knowledge about:
• How truly research matters a lot before taking any either small or big decisions
in a business. The drawback while launching a brand is that we can not predict
the amount of sales nor the customer’s reaction to the merchandise we provide,
hence, research is the only way we can try giving the customers as per their
requirement or preferred styles.
• As much as research plays an important part, so does making the correct option
plan because that is the collection that will influence the revenue a company will
earn in the next 3 months.
Hence, making an adequate option plan is one of the most important steps for a
brand launch.
• Got an insight about how Flipkart works and through such an elongated process
the products get live on the website.
• Learnt how the process of designing, manufacturing, Sampling for Flipkart is
done in an elaborative way.
• The process of pitching and finalizing to contacting to vendors and
manufacturers was learnt.
• I learnt that not just few people but so many teams are involved in getting a single
product online. By the end of the internship I was thoroughly clear about the
cataloguing process of Flipkart.
• How after sales analysis is one of the most important step after the brand has
been launched. Unless we do not know how to adequately do this process, the
brand wont be able to grow.
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CHAPTER – 4
REFLECTION
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My experience with FLIPKART was by far the best experience as compared to the other
companies I had earlier worked with. My manager especially made sure that I learn and know
how the whole process works and I learn at every step which is on-going in the business. I
could not have got a better mentor as he made me push my limits and I could see myself
growing and learning with every passing day.
The employees and the team I worked with was one the best teams and everybody was super
friendly. Despite being a fresher to the industry, people welcomed me and offered me roles
and duties trusting me.
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BIBLIOGRAPGHY
• Alnoor Peermohamed, “Flipkart launches it’s first private label fashion brand.”
Last updated June,2017
www.business-standard.com/article/companies/flipkart-launches- divastri-its-first-private-
label-fashion-brand-117062000062_1.html
• Payal Ganguly, “Flipkart Fashion launches first private fashion label Divastri”.
Last updated on July,2017
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/flipkart-launches-first-private-
fashion-label-divastri/articleshow/59212687.cms
• Retrieved May 2018 from,
http://www.flipkartcareers.com/work-in-india.php
• Retrieved May 2018 from,
www.flipkart.com/search?q=metronaut+woman&otracker=start& as-show=off&as=off
• Retrieved May, 2016 from,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipkart