One of the leading e-commerce platforms in Nepal “Sastodeal” has just shaken hands and reached an agreement for partnership with one of India’s leading e-commerce platforms ‘Flipkart’. It’s not long since Sastodeal had been gifted by an investment of 1 million by Dolma Impact Funds. Now Flipkart Sastodeal partnership is another achievement for them. The e-commerce business in Nepal is climbing up the ladders, so we can expect more in the coming days. Well, this partnership may worry Daraz, a rival of Sastodeal which is owned by Alibaba. Both of these companies are featured in Top Online Shopping Sites in Nepal.
Why Flipkart?
In 2007, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal founded Flipkart in Bangalore, India. At first, they only used to sell books but later on expanded to deliver all kinds of products all over India. Realizing the growth and domination of the platform in India, Walmart wasted no and acquired an 81% controlling stake for 16 billion US dollars in 2018. This valued the company at 20 billion US dollars. Not to forget to mention but even Microsoft has a 1.3% investment in the platform.
Flipkart also has a subsidiary ‘Myntra’ which is also an India-based fashion-focused e-commerce platform. Flipkart provides Indian citizens with over 10 million different products and delivers them to their doorsteps.
Read Top online news portal in Nepal.
How is Flipkart Sastodeal Partnership beneficial for all Nepalese?
As we all know, how big Flipkart is and the different kinds of products it offers. All those products which weren’t available in Nepal till now will be now available to order. For example, special gadgets or products that get launched in India but never find their way to Nepal, well now you can buy them here because of this tie-up.
Flipkart is now offering 5,000 different items on the Sastodeal platform which they are also providing in India. They are preparing for 100,000 more products and the process will advance gradually. It will cover products from categories like Baby materials, Electronics, Books, Clothes, Cosmetics, Furniture, Utilities, Utensils, etc, and from all other categories.
The best part is, consumers will be able to buy every stuff at cheap prices because the goods purchased from Flipkart will attract only import taxes. They announce to deliver the MarQ and Flipkart Smart Buy within 2 days. Whereas they will take 21 days minimum to deliver the Flipkart store (goods from India) to consumers. You should not expect quick delivery with such cross border eCommerce.
It seems a win-win situation for both consumers and the tied-up companies for the shopping of rare items. Many find the Flipkart Sastodeal partnership to be beneficial for the people of Nepal. But will you wait for the delivery of items that long, if you can buy them from other platforms or offline stores instantly?
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Flipkart Store Details
First of all the thing, we should all know that is the Flipkart store is being hosted on Sastodeal’s website itself. No custom or different website, it’s integrated inside Sastodeal’s website but in a different section. The section was necessary because the two different platforms belong in two different countries, so we are talking about cross border e-commerce here. There are 3 sections on the website.
In the Flipkart Store section, you can choose or browse products from over 15+ categories. All these categories can cover you from your daily needed product to luxury living products. The library is large and awesome at the same time.
The other two types of sections; MarQ, a private Flipkart brand, and another is SmartBuy. In the MarQ section, you can browse and order all the television sets you like. On the other hand on SmartBuy, you can browse and order products like Power bank, Bike Cover, Beed sheets, Pillows, Bottle, Cookware, and Mobile cables. The tied-up companies claim that they can deliver goods ordered from these sections to consumers within 1 or 2 days or so. The feeling is like there’s an online Flipkart shop in Nepal.
How and What can you Order, What about the Warranty?
The process of ordering is really easy. You just have to add any product you like into the cart and checkout with details. Soon, you will receive a confirmation call. After the confirmation of your order, your delivery will be placed and scheduled accordingly. So, this how you shop Flipkart items from Nepal.
Now the great question, what products can you order from Flipkart. All of the products listed on their website, no this isn’t how it works. The only products listed inside the Flipkart section of Sastodeal’s website are eligible to order. After the order, Sastodeal will take care of the delivery and payment process. You can pay for the items through either eSewa, Khalti, or Cash on Delivery options. This is how you order Flipkart items in Nepal.
The greatest question that is buzzing inside all people’s heads. What if the product damaged before you got it or didn’t stand up to its warranty date. Well, they have got you covered. If anything of these things happens to you, you can simply call or inform Sastodeal and they will take care of you. Don’t worry about the warranty, that’s included there.
Read Expectations and problems in the online shopping platforms of Nepal.
Why did Flipkart choose Sastodeal?
Flipkart chooses Sastodeal maybe because they saw huge potential in them and what they could be in the near future. Just like how Walmart thought of Flipkart. This may be the very reason behind the Flipkart Sastodeal partnership. This collaboration will definitely boost Sastodeal’s position to rival Daraz (which also allows people to buy items from Daraz globally).
Flipkart may also be looking to expand their territory through this partnership. They may be checking and analyzing the Nepali market and have different plans for the future. They may know how Nepal is drastically drifting towards digitalization and technology, especially towards Online shopping systems. So, this partnership may be a step towards their future plan in Nepal, who knows? Anyway, the Flipkart Sastodeal partnership is beneficial for all and that is what most matters for now.
