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-   -   Flipkart takes over Letsbuy. End of Competition? EDIT: Flipkart now buys Myntra! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadgets-computers-software/115603-flipkart-takes-over-letsbuy-end-competition-edit-flipkart-now-buys-myntra.html)

Guys,
A very shocking news for me to read.
Flipkart acquires Letsbuy and fashion retailer Myntra.com.
Here's the link for news.
Flipkart acquires Letsbuy, fashion retailer Myntra; raises Rs 100 crore - The Economic Times

Now , I have always bought things from Letsbuy. Infact, I preferred Letsbuy more due to their competitive prices, discount coupons, easy navigation through website and prompt service.
Infact I have never bought anything from Flipkart. I have bought things like Canon550D DSLR, Nokia phones, Hawkins utenstils, toy cars, etc.
Even ordered for Blackberry Playbook on Letsbuy. But it was not in stock and this is one thing they couldn't deliver though they offered a alternative device.
But now with Flipkart acquiring Letsbuy, are we staring at the end of competition. Frankly, Letsbuy must have been Flipkart's biggest headache.
I know many of you guys have bought lot of android phones from Letsbuy online. What do you feel about it ?Your comments !

Amazon has come in to India with Junglee.com: Shop Online and Compare Prices for Books, Mobiles, Clothing and More. That's probably the reason flipkart bought letsbuy

Interesting. The vendors that I buy from both have been acquired by Flipkart.

It is probably time for consolidation in the market & for the players cater to wider audience. With Amazon finally entering India, it should be even more interesting. Any Idea what is size the online retailers are considering the market to be?

This article explains the logic behind the acquisition.

Anyway, I have bought several items from all 3 websites and here's my view:
1. Flipkart is THE BEST. If you are not a price conscious buyer, you would instantly love the easy UI, great customer service, prompt delivery and ease of transaction here. I once bought a book at 10 am, paid by credit card, and it was delivered to me by 5 pm the same day! Can any website actually beat that?

2. Myntra is 2nd on my list. Their pricing and deals are good, not great. But their speed of delivery and customer care is as good as FK.

3. I have bought several items from Letsbuy, predominantly because their freely floating discount coupons offered the best prices. However, my last 2 big ticket purchases (A Westing House oil filled heater and Morphy Richards Coffee Maker) turned out to be defective. Their customer care is pathetic and I have been running pillar to post to get these 2 items replaced under their 45 day free replacement scheme.

So I feel this acquisition will only help a consumer like me!

letsbuy being acquired by flipkart was inevitable.

letsbuy :the discount coupons killed the business model, volumes of sale amounted to literally zero and also rumored negative margins.
VC funds were exhausted in a year!

flipkart : never offered coupons, prices were slightly higher vis-a -vis letsbuy, but the overall focus of the company was better, imho

this is good for the consumer in the long run, since amazon is in, they wanted to takeover flipkart, and rumors of letsbuy - amazon discussions were floating around for a long run.

the online shopping experience, will just get better and better for the end consumer!
:)

The competition will always exist. ebay is a pretty decent e-commerce portal. Now Amazon through the junglee.com venture should also pose a threat to Flipkart. I have only used ebay India and Amazon (U.S.) sites so far.

As indian21r said, its time for consolidation, and the poster boy didnt want to take chances. Personally, I have always considered flipkart a notch above the rest when it comes to customer service.

Among electronics, their prices were low at the beginning, and then they changed their strategy and now their prices are at par with the shops around. Yet the convenience of getting new and well packed items delivered at your home (or even gifted) is mindblowing.

I believe the acquisition will:
a) Lower distribution costs due to higher volumes
b) Allow flipkart to operate in multiple segments ie, the price conscious buyer and the not so price conscious
c) Increase market share (inevitable)
d) Open up further opportunities for acquisition

They need to focus on mobile distribution channel now, their mobile sites are far from complete.

Even after the acquisition, will the prices of stuffs go down or will it increase further due to lack of competition?
I really hope that Flipkart also applies the discount coupon strategy on few selected items at least.
Else if the prices are kept similar to retail shops, its always better to buy from nearby shops, at least for me, as it offers piece of mind if anything is to be returned due to some immediate defect.

This was well anticipated.I once asked my BIL who is into IT business, that how come a site like Letsbuy offer products at a price which is well below the wholesale/distributor price.

He remarked that in order to get a foot hold and become headache to big portals,they absorb losses. In time they would be bought by the big companies at steep amounts. Same thing seems have happened here.

The site was down for all most whole day yesterday. Anyway, you forgot http://www.junglee.com/?

IMO, for a retail e-venture to be successful, you need to have a robust Supply Chain, easy web interface and a efficient customer support framework to complement. FlipKart meets all 3 parameters. Proof of their success is that they received institutional funding in January.

My personal experience with them has been pretty good too. I bought a MP3 player few months ago and a Samsung Galaxy Note in December. I am going to say this. FlipKart was FAST with awesome cust service.

I am also going to make a prediction here - Give it another year and Flipkart will be the largest online retailer in India.

yeah!! not frequenting the android thread these days. The game has moved on and I am still with Android2.2 Wildfire:D.
I have still not decided if I want to root the phone or not. It's going good. Last month tried going for a exchange and was getting a decent 6k for that but then gave it a miss.
I surely hope Flipkart prices get competitive. Recently I have observed their prices to be higher than the physical stores.

Thanks Nishant for the link. Had read about them having common investors and yes with competition hotting up, consolidation had to take place, but i surely going to miss the super prices offered by Letsbuy. I am not banking on Flipkart being cheaper.

Thank you Atul for the correction!!
Flipkart acquiring Letsbuy and Myntra raising USD20million are two separate news and events.
Here's a seperate new article link for Myntra.com
http://www.vccircle.com/500/news/myn...-global-others

Just a correction.
I dont think Myntra was bought by Flipkart. They decided to report Flipkart's Letsbuy acquisition as well as Myntra's 100 crore capital raise in a single article.
The usage of punctuation in the heading is wrong, causing the confusion.

The online retail business in India is already going through consolidation phase, which is not a good sign for other online retailers. The potential the economy presents is enormous but the real growth QonQ seen by some of the online retailers aren't any where near the initial projections.

Only retailers with deep pockets will be able to weather this storm.