New Poster Boys of India, Bansals of Flipkart

'If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it' - Ward, Williams

Since the inception of mankind, human being have evolved; right from Stone Age till date (we can also term this age as a Digital Age).Today the world has become more like a cluster of digitally connected networks than anything else.Since Y2K the Computer Age has taken over the world by storm,especially the emerging economies like India.Some individuals and firms have been able to reap most out of it while others have just wondered about how the world around them has changed within the blink of an eye.

Two such individuals envisioned the Digital Age approaching India well in advance, they realised the need to establish a strong E-Commerce platform that can serve as many as 45.3 Million active Internet Users in India (Figures suggested by an IMRB International Survey Report, Sep 2008.Although the figure today is considerably higher than it was in 2008 with almost 164.81 million active internet users by March,2013) 

These two gentlemen were pass-outs from one the most prestigious institute in India, the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.They worked with one of the leading e-commerce company, Amazon and then ventured into the world of e-commerce with a website named 'www.FLIPKART.com' which initially focused only on selling of books.Later they diversified their business by venturing into sales of consumer durables like Electronic goods, Apparel for men & women, Home and Kitchen Appliances etc. and helped the company to become India's most preferred online shopping destination.

Their names are Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal (not related by blood though).

Flipkart Online Services Private Limited was formally incorporated in October 2008, the time when most of the countries in the world were suffering from Economic slowdown.'Where others saw risk, they saw opportunity',an opportunity to grow, to expand, to use the potential of an emerging economy, to empower hundreds and thousands with a robust e-commerce platform to shop.

There is an old saying that 'The road to Success never runs Straight', this holds true in the case of Flipkart as well,remember this was the era when so called Mall Culture peaked in the minds of Indian consumers.Yes India was an emerging economy, yes there was a sharp increase in the number of Internet users across the country, yes the owners were IITians (assumed to be the sharpest of the whole lot) and had a past experience of working in a company with more or less similar Business Model but what they didn't have was adequate funds to purchase inventory and run their business without many financial hurdle.There was a stiff challenge to convert this huge number of active internet users into customers(may be not all but most of them), to make an Indian customer imbibe the online shopping model, to replace the Brick and Mortar structure with Click and Order and most importantly to make the customer believe in online purchase. 

All these problems were addressed one after the other.Accel India and Tiger Global - the venture capitalist firms invested heavily in Flipkart in its early years and ensured financial stability. Now with finances in place the next task was to make the people of India believe that online purchases can be trusted.Due to the absence of the actual physical appearance of the product before purchase, the customers are highly sceptical about the products moreover the payment of their purchase was another big question mark for the customers as till date, there are a considerable number of credit and debit card users who refrain from using their details for an online purchase.These problems were resolved by bringing about the Cash On Delivery model.Though this kind of mode of payment had its own challenges, Flipkart somehow has been able to find their way through it by innovating their business.

Now comes yet another important aspect of Flipkart's success,their Marketing Mix.The Virtual to Real connect that Flipkart was able to establish was noteworthy.The advertisements and the promotional activities of Flipkart not only amused the customers but they also conveyed the relevant messages with tag lines and phrases like 'Shopping ka naya address' (which in english translates to,'The new address of your shopping Destination').These advertisements and promotions helped Flipkart to establish trust amongst its existing and potential audiences. Flipkart have also ensured that their prices remain as low as possible in comparison to most of their competitors across various segments so as to attract more number of customers.Also, being a website it is available to all individuals 24x7, thus ensuring maximum possible reach and availability.

With timely and strategically important acquisitions Flipkart continued to expand its business in best possible manner.With acquisition of Letsbuy.com in 2012 Flipkart also established strong roots in the Electronic Goods section.

Today Flipkart is a giant in Indian e-commerce industry with sales of over  1 Billion U.S Dollars.But back in 2007-2008 it was only an idea, a thought, a vision foreseen by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. The rise and glory of Flipkart teaches numerous lessons of management and life.The Bansals of Flipkart have now become role models for hundreds of budding Entrepreneurs with their success story and with Economic Times (a popular Business Daily) bestowing Sachin Bansal as 'The Entrepreneur of the Year', 2012-13 has set the bench mark  for all the aspiring entrepreneurs.

References:
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/india-is-now-worlds-third-largest-internet-user-after-us-china/article5053115.ece

http://www.imrbint.com/old/media/45..pdf

http://www.iamwire.com/2011/07/sachin-bansal-flipkart-ceo-interview/
http://m.economictimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/retail/flipkart-hits-1-billion-in-sales-a-year-ahead-of-schedule/articleshow/31549992.cms

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-26/news/42426999_1_business-model-tiger-global-accel-partners

First Instagram, now Whatsapp; Facebook's dominance in Social Networking knows no bound...

' If you can't beat them in their core competencies then simply buy them ', has been mantra for Facebook in their quest to dominate the social media, across the globe. Facebook, by far the best ever social networking venture the world has ever seen, has been bullish in their approach to capitalize on everything that is trending in the world of social media.



Facebook initially started as a portal to share pictures and posts and was available only for students of Harvard University to begin with and then went onto become the most popular social networking destination and has grown by leaps and bounds since it's inception i.e 4th of February 2004. It has been the most popular website for several years now, only after Google and there is no doubt in their success as they have precisely bridged the gap in the society by linking people over the virtual network.

Facebook has made as many as 45 mergers and acquisitions since 2005, with Whatsapp - the instant messaging app for smart cell phones being the latest entrant in the list, this is a clear evidence of Facebook's hunger and appetite to dominate the world of social network. Currently with almost 2 billion active users of FB, Instagram and Whatsapp put together, the company and its products are the most used or talked about across the world. 



The most interesting part of Facebook's journey has been their strategic acquisitions with the course of time. Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman & CEO of Facebook INC. and his team have been very particular about each and every 
M & A that they have inked as every deal
 of their's has not only added a value to
 Facebook's business model but has also 
been a fruitful venture in terms of 
monetary benefits that it has added to 
the company's bottom line. Especially 
the apps like Face.com made by an Israeli company that helps Facebook users to recognize people by their face and tag them have been some landmark achievement by Facebook in terms of mapping the real world with virtual world .Now with Instagram - the picture sharing app being named as the most trending and frequently downloaded app on Google's Play Store for Android phones and Whatsapp  out smarting the BBM as the most used messaging app on smart phones, Facebook couldn't have asked for anything better to be in their kitty.

From getting themselves listed in NASDAQ and releasing the largest IPO ever in the history of the world to buying of  most unheard start up from a metropolitan city of India, Facebook INC. has always taken Big - Bold decisions and has been effectively able to write off the speculations of reaching the saturation point and has timely sent out a strong message that they are here for a Marathon run. 

As an MBA in making, what interests me more is not just the journey that Facebook has embarked so far but analysing the next move that they make in terms of expanding their business. As the buzz of Whatsapp merger sinks in the minds of people I wouldn't really be surprised if Facebook comes out with yet another giant leap by acquiring Twitter, Linked In, Pinterest or Snapcha or by enabling these features in their website to further strengthen their dominance in the world of Social Networking.



Reference Links:

http://static1.businessinsider.com/

http://www.alexa.com/topsites

http://newsroom.fb.com/news

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/9269601/The-biggest-IPOs-in-US-history-in-pictures.html