The Indian startup circuit has witnessed the rise of many successful companies. Amongst these, the story of Flipkart is more of an inspiration for many people. Flipkart had to take the long road to success. Initially starting as an online bookstore from a two-bedroom apartment in Bengaluru, the company has come a long way in becoming one of the biggest names in the startup circuit. The story of Flipkart and Sachin Bansal has inspired many entrepreneurs. Hence, Sachin Bansal has become a celebrity in his own right and has provided the benchmarks for others to follow. Read this article to know about the story of Sachin Bansal.
Sachin Bansal- Quick Facts
Sachin Bansal- Childhood
Sachin Bansal- IIT and joining Amazon
Sachin Bansal- The story of Flipkart and Sachin
Sachin Bansal- Flipkart under Sachin
Sachin Bansal- Bringing cash on delivery options
Sachin Bansal- Turning into a truly pan-Indian delivery network
Sachin Bansal- Reaching the third-party marketplace
Sachin Bansal- Big Billion day
Sachin Bansal- Sachin as an inspiration
Sachin Bansal- Quick Facts
| Name | Sachin Bansal |
|---|---|
| Born | August 5, 1981 Chandigarh, India |
| Age | 38 |
| Citizenship | Indian |
| Education | Indian Institute of Technology Delhi |
| Title | co-founder of Flipkart |
| Net worth | US$ 1.2 billion |
| Wife | Priya Bansal |
Sachin Bansal- Childhood
Sachin was born in Chandigarh and was a prodigy since his initial days. His father was a business, man and Sachin became a tech geek during his school days at St. Anne’s convent school.
Sachin Bansal- IIT and joining Amazon
Sachin was a student from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Being a computer science student, his future was bright. This was mainly because during that era, the technology sector was advancing exponentially. After completing his graduation, he bagged a job in
Techspan and later on, he joined Flipkart.
Sachin Bansal- The story of Flipkart and Sachin
Flipkart was Indian e-commerce’s biggest success. With a $16 billion acquisition by Walmart, the brand became one of its kind. Hence, Flipkart was in the scene to give a tough competition to Amazon. Initially, Sachin met Binny Bansal in 2005. They both were the students of the same institution IITD. In 2007, they launched a startup named Flipkart. This brand was introduced to revolutionize the e-commerce sector forever.
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However, the initial days were never easy for Sachin and Binny. Despite all the difficulties they faced, Sachin and Binny were successful in delivering the products and managed to close the initial year with 20 successful shipments. The year 2008 will be characterized by the growth of Flipkart. That year, the company opened its first office in Bengaluru. With many customers showing an interest in the service provided by Flipkart, Sachin decided that it was time to launch 24X7 customer service to deal with the platform’s growing consumer base. That year, the company witnessed over 3,400 shipments being successfully delivered.
Sachin Bansal- Flipkart under Sachin
The next year, Sachin and Binny hired their first full-time employee. The man was Ambur Iyyappa. Well, Ambur became a millionaire later on! After providing quality services to its customers, the team witnessed a huge growth in their popularity. Therefore, Accel Partners became the first VC firm to invest in Flipkart. The investment was on $1 million and this fueled the functionality of Flipkart. Hence, the company expanded its offices to Delhi and Mumbai that year.
Sachin Bansal- Bringing cash on delivery options
Cash has been an indispensable part of the Indian economy. Hence, to attract more customers, Flipkart founders introduced Cash on Delivery payment option. This enabled customers to pay for their purchase in cash upon the doorstep option. Ekart was the logistics company that came forward to deliver all the products to the customers. Apart from the introduction Cash on Delivery option, the brand also brought in a 30-day return policy for its customers. The product falling under the 30-day return policy category were Music, Movies, Games, Electronics, and Mobiles.
Sachin Bansal- Turning into a truly pan-Indian delivery network
With steady growth in the 2010 era, it started selling Cameras, computers, laptop health, and personal care appliances too. Sachin also introduced Flipkart’s digital wallet. By the end of 2011, Flipkart’s network expanded to over 600 cities across the country. The decade of 2010 will be characterized by the development of the technology sector.
With many big names like Apple, Microsoft, and Android (Google) developing mobile software, the smartphone became popular in the country. Now, as everyone wished to own a smartphone, it was time for Flipkart for switching to the app-based platform. Hence, in 2012, Flipkart introduced its app. The platform had received PCI DSS certification. This enabled it to store the card details of the customers safely.
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Hence, the next time the same customer uses the online mode of payment, he/she will not have to re-write the card details again. Flipkart’s online expansion continues to take place in the present year. The launch of fashion, perfumes, watches, menswear, toys, posters, and baby care and the introduction of DigiFlip, Flyte MP3 were symbolic of the rise of Flipkart as a brand.
Sachin Bansal- Reaching the third-party marketplace
Flipkart under Sachin decided to expand its service. Therefore the adopted a marketplace model to bring third-party sellers into the frame. This was a decision that changed Flipkart’s fortune as it was able to sell 100,000 books per day. To attract more customers, the team lead by Sachin decided to introduce the Next Day Delivery Scheme. Flipkart also started to accept international cards for online transactions to accept international orders. After taking giant strides, the company raised $360 million in two rounds successfully.
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Sachin Bansal- Big Billion day
Under Sachin, Flipkart was able to compete with Amazon. However, in 2014, the brand team introduced Big Billion Day, this was a masterstroke as this scheme increased the popularity of the company substantially. After the acquisition of online fashion retailer Myntra, the company raised $1.9 billion across three separate rounds of funding.
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Flipkart was also able to become the first Indian company to register Gross Merchandise Value of $1.9 billion. Big Billion Day was introduced to attract customers across the nation. The best part of the deal was the discounts offered by the company. People were able to buy goods at a discount of over 80%!
Sachin Bansal- Sachin as an inspiration
The story of Sachin Bansal has been an inspirational one. His leadership skills enabled Flipkart to grow in an environment that was ruled by Amazon.
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With perfect planning and execution, his ideas were successfully implemented. Now, Flipkart stands as one of the biggest companies in the startup sector. Hence, his story is of great importance regarding how to implement one’s ideas.
Link : https://startuptalky.com/sachin-bansal-story/
Author :- Yash Gupta
July 19, 2020 at 07:12PM
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