Online retail is a boon in modern busy lives- is an accepted
fact. But how is online retail servicing their customers is a serious question.
Online marketplaces, where in simple terms vendors/sellers list their products and in turn pay commission to marketplace retailer, though there can be different arrangements for fulfillment and control, give much of control to the vendors. The
chances are that service quality may be impacted due to multiple factors like
fulfillment delay or delivering an incorrect/defective product.
Global online retailers like Amazon, ebay have strict
control over vendors and provide transparency to customers in terms of vendor
rating and reviews. This enables them to maintain high service quality and in
turn customer satisfaction. Indian counterparts are on a learning trajectory
and Flipkart is a good example of an early learner.
Recently I experienced 2 cases (both in the month of June
2014) of order cancellation due to product not supplied by vendor. However,
there was a stark contrast in the customer service and resulting customer
satisfaction in the 2 cases. Let us have a look,
Case 1: Order on Myntra.com- 12-days cycle with no communication from retailer
Day 1: Apparel product on discount,
pre-paid with a expected delivery time of 6-8 business days.
Day 6: Called customer care (CC) to enquire order status. Revealed
that the order was on Myntra marketplace and hence, had a longer delivery time
of 6-8 days. (Myntra has a hybrid
model (inventory plus marketplace) and it’s own stock usually arrives
within 2 days in locations like Gurgaon)
Day 8: CC replied to my email (sent the same day) stating
that there was a delay in procuring the product from brand partner and asked me
to wait for 3 more business days.
Day 11: No update from Myntra, emailed CC myself.
Day 12: Emailed CC again. Received reply stating that vendor
has not supplied the product yet. No expected time of arrival or assurance is
offered by Myntra.
Eventually, I cancelled the order.
Worst- Myntra did
not refund the money but added it as cashback in my user account, assuming that I will still love to buy from them after this ordeal. I had
to again start a mail chain in order to get the cash refund.
Case 2: Order on Firstcry.com- 8-days cycle with pro-active communication from retailer
Day 1: Baby furnishing product on discount,
cash-on-delivery with delivery time of 6 days
Day 5: Mail from Firstcry CC that they required additional
48 hours to “dispatch” the product. (I appreciated their pro-activeness)
Day 7: Mail from CC that order has been cancelled as they
had tried to arrange the product from multiple vendors but were not able to
confirm availability.
Day 8: Received a call from CC regretting the order
cancellation and explaining that it was an automated process in the
system if the vendor did not send the product by promised date. Also suggested
that they would help me reorder once the product is available again. (Firstcry too has a hybrid model in which they stock inventory in their warehouses and also hold virtual inventory at vendors)
Sadly, both Myntra and Firstcry continued to list these products in their catalogs, which would have resulted in grievances to even more customers (PS: above cycle was repeated to confirm the unavailability of same product)
Lessons for marketplaces
- Information about stock availability at vendor is crucial
- Even more important to keep customer informed in advance about expected delay
- Automated system for order cancellation may be a bitter truth but enables the customer to obtain a refund and order elsewhere
- Follow-up call from customer care regretting the unfulfilled order and hence, the inconvenience, is sheer customer delight
- Product catalog needs to be updated and such products be listed as out-of-stock
Disclaimer: The blog is based on my personal experiences and strictly reflects my individual opinion.
