Flipkart kicks off Big Exchange Days scheme

What do Online Marketplaces do when there is no big discounting festivals coming up? They create some more added value programmes to motivate customers to keep parting with their cash. For example, Flipkart has just kicked off the ‘Big Exchange Days’ programme, which is scheduled to take place on the 1st and 2nd of every month.

What is ‘Big Exchange Days’?

The ‘Big Exchange Days’ initiative is a scheme which allows its customers to exchange old products, when purchasing an upgraded model. This popular scheme is offered by quite a number of Bricks and Mortar retailers usually dealing in white goods. Customers normally get money off the new product once they trade in the old one.

Flipkart has trained its delivery people to do a thorough test of the old product before picking it up from the customers home. The scheme is available to customers on the desktop, app and Flipkart Lite.

The products Flipkart plan on offering for exchange include:

• Smartphones

• Tablets

• Laptops

• Televisions

• Refrigerators

• Washing machines

“The average cycle in India for replacing a phone is 18-24 months and we are witnessing similar trends in the television category. Customers are continuously looking to upgrade to the next new-age model, but disposing off the previously owned models has always been a concern. The Flipkart Exchange Programme offers customers a holistic solution to the whole process of looking for buyers of their old products and buy new products. We foresee this programme to be a big hit amongst our customers and expect it to drive 20% of the sales in these categories by the end of this year,” said Ankit Nagori, Chief Business Officer, Flipkart.

During the Big Billion Days sale, Flipkart reiterated its dominance in the mobile phone category and also mentioned the new trend of the wearables category growing swiftly. During the recent Republic Days sale, Flipkart was successful in promoting ‘Made in India’ products in the electronics category and it also predicted the large appliance segment to bring in huge returns over the next 2 years. Keeping these points in mind, Flipkart’s ‘Big Exhange Days’ program looks to be heading in the right direction.

Do you think Snapdeal and Amazon should launch similar initiatives?