Benchmarking E-commerce Customer Care

Applied Management Research Project
BENCHMARK CUSTOMER CARE SERVICE ACROSS
E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY
Report submitted to the
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
In partial fulfillment
For the award of the degree
of
Master of Business Administration
by
Sai Srinivas Kotni [14BM60083]
Under the guidance of
Prof. Susmita Mukhopadhyay
VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KHARAGPUR
November, 2015

Benchmark customer care service across e-commerce industry
Sai Srinivas Kotni, VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur Page 2
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Applied Management Research Project report titled ‘Benchmark
Customer Care Service Across E-Commerce Industry’, submitted by Sai Srinivas Kotni bearing
Roll No. 14BM60083 to Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, is a record of bonafide
research work under my supervision and I consider it worthy of consideration for the award of
degree of Master of Business Administration in accordance with the regulation of the Institute.
Date: _____________________
Supervisor
.

CERTIFICATE OF EXAMIMATION
DD/MM/YYYY
Certified that the Applied Management Research Project report titled ‘Benchmark Customer
Care Service Across E-Commerce Industry’ submitted by Sai Srinivas Kotni bearing Roll No.
14BM60083 to the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, towards the partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the award of the degree Master of Business Administration has been
accepted by the panel of examiners, and that the student has successfully defended the work in
the viva-voce examination held today.
Panel Member 1 Panel Member 2
Panel Member3 Panel Member 4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank my internal institute guide Prof. Susmita Mukhopadhyay for her support,
guidance and keen interest with which he helped me solve various problems concerned with the
project and for taking out his precious time amidst of her busy schedule.
This is a sincere acknowledgement to Snapdeal for giving me an opportunity to do my Applied
Management Research Project with you, thus helping me in shaping my career.
A special gratitude I give to my mentor and guide, Mr. Niranjan Kumar Kancharla, Partner
Management- Snapdeal, whose contribution in stimulating suggestions and encouragement,
helped me to progress on this project and report.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Snapdeal created a marketplace providing technology and platform for sellers. The company
aims to expand its merchant base to one million in the next three years, Snapdeal currently
claims to offer more than five million products across 500-plus categories on its platform with
over 25 million registered users and 50,000-plus merchants.
A large number of new merchants coming in, Snapdeal as a middle man want to assure its
customer for the offerings. The number of complaints from the customers is also increasing with
the growth of the customer base of the company, so snapdeal aims to benchmark the customer
care service, to meet or exceed the customer expectations.

About the company (Source: snapdeal.com)
In February 2010, Kunal Bahl along with Rohit Bansal, started Snapdeal.com - India's largest
online marketplace, with the widest assortment of 12 million+ products across 500+ diverse
categories from thousands of regional, national, and international brands and retailers.
With millions of users and 150,000 sellers, Snapdeal is the shopping destination for internet
users across the country, delivering to 5000+ cities and towns in India. With its acquisition of
Freecharge in 2015, a leading mobile transactions platform, Snapdeal has become the largest
mCommerce company in the country.
In its journey till now, Snapdeal has partnered with several global marquee investors and
individuals such as SoftBank, BlackRock, Temasek, eBay Inc., Premji Invest, Intel Capital,
Bessemer Venture Partners, Mr. Ratan Tata, among others.

CEO
KunalBahl
COO
Rohit Bansal
PRODUCT
Anand Chandrasekaran
STRATEGY
Govind Rajan
CTO
Rajiv Mangla
LOGISTICS
Saurabh Goyal
BUSINESS
Lokesh Mamtani
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Megha Ajwani
INTERNAL COM
Rasika Mathur
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
ANkit Khanna
BUSINESS STRATEGY
Abhishek Passi
MARKETING
Sandeep Komaravelly
FINANCE
Amit Choudary

CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION
CHAPTER 2: SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW
CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY
CHAPTER 5: QUESTIONNAIRE & RESULTS
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 7: REFERENCES & BIBILOGRAPHY

Background and Motivation
Customer satisfaction is the primary target and much wanted end result if a company wants to
create a name and remain successful. There will always be more urgent problems to take care of,
then optimizing customer care, especially in small and medium business.
So should one be investing time, energy and yes capital in this area?
With the internet and social media news travels quickly and 39% customers are more likely to
remember a bad experience. A company’s customer service policies and their customer support
system can build or break its reputation, doesn’t matter if you’re 5 or 500 member team.
52% people indicated that a good customer service experience leads them to purchase more from
the company. Great customer service can become your defining factor, the USP. In this growing
Indian market a lot of websites come up with the same basic premise in retail, and something that
sets you apart from the rest is needed to gain the trust and loyalty of the customer.
Akosha findings show that the month on month growth rate for online E-Commerce complaints,
averaged over the past 2 years is about 30%. In the first trimester of this year (Jan – Mar ‘13),
out of the 76,000 complaints registered on Akosha across all different sectors, 13.84% of them
were from E-Commerce sector. The bulk of these complaints is from Tier I cities and Delhi is at
the top with around 1700 complaints in the e-commerce sector.
Where are e-commerce sites going wrong?
Data shows that most common E-Commerce related issues amongst customers are the following:
Deficiency in Delivery – 58%

Pain Points -
All issues related to non delivery, delayed delivery, damaged or wrong items being delivered,
and the discrepancy between items displayed on the website and items actually delivered; they
were the points that came up most often.
Possible Solutions -
 Keep your customers informed about the status of the delivery
 Outsourcing logistics to multiple players and selecting the right one for different pin
codes with automated decision making backed by data
 Focusing on Quality control process to make sure items are delivered correctly and
undamaged
Refund Issues – 29%
Pain Points -
Issues related to refusal or delay in processing of refunds.
Possible Solutions -
 Most people are hesitant to shop online because they are unsure about the purchase and
return policies. Clearly state the company policy in easy language and somewhere its
easy to find
 Publish a customer friendly returns policy, all sales may not be final. A lot of shoppers
get deterred when they see that there is no chance of refunds or returns at all

Others – 13%
Pain Points -
Issues not included in previous two categorizations. Some common ones are:
 Difficulty in website navigation
 Unclear instruction or information
 Incorrect and unwanted money transactions
Streamlining Customer Service
 Customers get attracted to the E-Commerce platform because it claims to offer them a
more efficient shopping experience. Don’t create customer service road blocks!
 Don’t forget to improve on the basic touch points. Telephone and Email etiquettes,
proper product and shipment packaging etc.
 Keep things simple but obvious. Make it as easy as possible for the customer to share
their grievances. Give them a combination of various methods of getting in touch with
you instead of just one or two
 Make company policies clear and transparent. Offer comprehensive details on the About
Us page and offer an FAQ tab that clarifies smaller queries
 Invest in the education and training of the customers care staff. This is the team that is on
the forefront and touch points of the company and needs further empowerment to enable
customer satisfaction. Not only do they need to be efficient in people skills, but they also
must have technical product and website related knowledge
A customer who brings up a problem doesn’t just help you identify an issue, but also gives you
the opportunity to turn a complainer into a loyal customer. No business platform is without its
obstacles and no product is perfect. How efficiently a complaint is handled decides the outcome,
whether it will result in a sale or a disgruntled customer contributing to negative publicity.

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
The project is divided into two phases, the aim of the project in,
Phase I (August-November, 2015):
Is to perform primary research and find out where does Snapdeal customer care standout, when
compared to its peers in the e-commerce industry.
Steps involved
Second Research on customer care service in E-Commerce Industry
 Experts Opinion
 Analyzing the Ticket data provided by Snapdeal
 Primary research to capture the customer perception
Phase II (January-April, 2016):
Is to study the areas where Snapdeal is falling behind and suggest strategies accordingly, to
improve Snapdeal customer care service.

Literature Review
Snapdeal vs. Amazon vs. Flipkart
Snapdeal Model:
In this model the E-Commerce player creates a platform for buyers and sellers and does not sell
any goods/service on its own, but offers discount coupons which can be used by buyers to avail
discount at the time of buying Good or availing Service from Merchant.
Pros of Snapdeal Model:
1. E-Commerce player is only Technology Provider therefore very less hassles
2. Cost of Operations is very Low compared to other models
3. Very Easy to Set Up Business Operations
4. Lot of upcoming Brands / Merchants are available for tie up
Cons of Snapdeal Model:
1. Ultra Low Margin Business
2. Unknown Brands and many merchants, so the website looks crowded
3. Profitable Business only if Huge Volumes can be committed to merchants
4. Quality assurance is difficult
Flipkart Model:
In this model, E-Commerce player control end to end value chain, i.e. right from procurement to
delivery is controlled by service provider. The Flipkart is now investing its resources to make
flipkart as market place, they are inviting the sellers to sell the goods on a platform created.

Pros of Flipkart Model:
1. Scale of Operation gives high bargaining power
2. High Margin Business
3. Probability of repeat business is high
Cons of Flipkart Model:
1. Logistics
2. Limited Product Portfolio
3. High Investments
Amazon Model: It is the mix of both Flipkart and Snapdeal, it encourages the merchants to sell
and also it stores inventory.
All the companies slowly moving towards the market place model, gradually many retail sellers
will be on-board in any of the E-Commerce websites.

Methodology
Literature
Review
Experts Review
Secondary
Research
Questionnaire
Participatory
Research
Primary
Research
Perceptual
mapping
Identifying the
weak regions
Analyse
the Results

Questionnaire and Results

You frequently buy products from
Amazon Flipkart Snapdeal PayTM Other Websites
Amazon 3
(6.25%)
14
(29.17%)
18
(37.5%)
9
(18.75%)
4
(8.33%)
5.75 48 2.94 / 5
Flipkart 2
(4.17%)
6
(12.5%)
19
(39.58%)
10
(20.83%)
11
(22.92%)
5.68 48 3.46 / 5
Snapdeal 11
(22.92%)
22
(45.83%)
10
(20.83%)
3
(6.25%)
2
(4.17%)
7.17 48 2.23 / 5
PayTM 22
(45.83%)
8
(16.67%)
10
(20.83%)
3
(6.25%)
5
(10.42%)
6.65 48 2.19 / 5
Other Websites 18
(37.5%)
18
(37.5%)
9
(18.75%)
2
(4.17%)
1
(2.08%)
7.39 48 1.96 / 5
2.55 / 5
Never Once or Twice Sometimes Often Very Often Standard Deviation Responses Weighted Average

Rate the Quality of the Products and Services offered
Amazon Flipkart Snapdeal PayTM
Amazon 1
(2.08%)
2
(4.17%)
8
(16.67%)
24
(50%)
13
(27.08%)
8.4 48 3.96 / 5
Flipkart 2
(4.17%)
3
(6.25%)
8
(16.67%)
29
(60.42%)
6
(12.5%)
9.93 48 3.71 / 5
Snapdeal 8
(16.67%)
6
(12.5%)
18
(37.5%)
14
(29.17%)
2
(4.17%)
5.71 48 2.92 / 5
PayTM 3
(6.25%)
6
(12.5%)
23
(47.92%)
16
(33.33%)
0
(0%)
8.59 48 3.08 / 5
3.42 / 5
Poor Fair Neutral Good Excellent Standard Deviation Responses Weighted Average

Ease of finding the Customer Care Number
Amazon 1
(2.08%)
8
(16.67%)
19
(39.58%)
14
(29.17%)
6
(12.5%)
6.28 48 3.33 / 5
Flipkart 2
(4.17%)
3
(6.25%)
16
(33.33%)
18
(37.5%)
9
(18.75%)
6.53 48 3.6 / 5
Snapdeal 1
(2.08%)
5
(10.42%)
28
(58.33%)
12
(25%)
2
(4.17%)
9.97 48 3.19 / 5
PayTM 0
(0%)
0
(0%)
32
(69.57%)
10
(21.74%)
4
(8.7%)
11.97 46 3.39 / 5
3.38 / 5
Very Difficult Difficult Neutral Easy Very Easy Standard Deviation Responses Weighted Average

How satisfied are you with the response by the Customer Representative to your problem
Amazon 0
(0%)
2
(4.17%)
19
(39.58%)
18
(37.5%)
9
(18.75%)
7.86 48 3.71 / 5
Flipkart 1
(2.08%)
5
(10.42%)
12
(25%)
22
(45.83%)
8
(16.67%)
7.17 48 3.65 / 5
Snapdeal 2
(4.17%)
5
(10.42%)
30
(62.5%)
10
(20.83%)
1
(2.08%)
10.67 48 3.06 / 5
PayTM 1
(2.08%)
5
(10.42%)
27
(56.25%)
12
(25%)
3
(6.25%)
9.46 48 3.23 / 5
3.41 / 5
Very Unsatisfied Unsatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very Satisfied Standard Deviation Responses Weighted Average

How easy is it to reach the Customer Care Representative from the first Call Menu
Amazon 0
(0%)
7
(14.58%)
21
(43.75%)
15
(31.25%)
5
(10.42%)
7.47 48 3.38 / 5
Flipkart 0
(0%)
9
(18.75%)
17
(35.42%)
16
(33.33%)
6
(12.5%)
6.34 48 3.4 / 5
Snapdeal 1
(2.08%)
5
(10.42%)
31
(64.58%)
11
(22.92%)
0
(0%)
11.38 48 3.08 / 5
PayTM 0
(0%)
5
(10.42%)
33
(68.75%)
9
(18.75%)
1
(2.08%)
12.13 48 3.13 / 5
3.24 / 5
Very Difficult Difficult Neutral Easy Very Easy Standard Deviation Responses Weighted Average

How long are you kept on Hold while the customer Care addresses your problem
Amazon 0
(0%)
5
(10.42%)
14
(29.17%)
19
(39.58%)
10
(20.83%)
6.65 48 3.71 / 5
Flipkart 0
(0%)
3
(6.25%)
21
(43.75%)
16
(33.33%)
8
(16.67%)
7.86 48 3.6 / 5
Snapdeal 4
(8.33%)
1
(2.08%)
21
(43.75%)
18
(37.5%)
4
(8.33%)
8.21 48 3.35 / 5
PayTM 2
(4.17%)
2
(4.17%)
26
(54.17%)
15
(31.25%)
3
(6.25%)
9.56 48 3.31 / 5
3.49 / 5
Very Long Long Significant Short Very Short Standard Deviation Responses Weighted Average

Rate the attitude and general demeanour of the customer service employee
Amazon 2
(4.17%)
3
(6.25%)
14
(29.17%)
20
(41.67%)
9
(18.75%)
6.77 48 3.65 / 5
Flipkart 4
(8.33%)
4
(8.33%)
19
(39.58%)
15
(31.25%)
6
(12.5%)
6.22 48 3.31 / 5
Snapdeal 4
(8.33%)
3
(6.25%)
27
(56.25%)
12
(25%)
2
(4.17%)
9.39 48 3.1 / 5
PayTM 0
(0%)
7
(14.58%)
28
(58.33%)
11
(22.92%)
2
(4.17%)
9.97 48 3.17 / 5
3.31 / 5

Rate the Customer Care Representative's Knowledge of the product
Amazon 2
(4.17%)
5
(10.42%)
18
(37.5%)
19
(39.58%)
4
(8.33%)
7.34 48 3.38 / 5
Flipkart 1
(2.08%)
7
(14.58%)
18
(37.5%)
18
(37.5%)
4
(8.33%)
7.12 48 3.35 / 5
Snapdeal 2
(4.17%)
5
(10.42%)
27
(56.25%)
14
(29.17%)
0
(0%)
9.93 48 3.1 / 5
PayTM 1
(2.08%)
6
(12.5%)
31
(64.58%)
10
(20.83%)
0
(0%)
11.29 48 3.04 / 5
3.22 / 5

Rate the Customer Care Representative's Ability to answer the Question
Amazon 1
(2.08%)
6
(12.5%)
16
(33.33%)
20
(41.67%)
5
(10.42%)
7.17 48 3.46 / 5
Flipkart 1
(2.13%)
5
(10.64%)
19
(40.43%)
18
(38.3%)
4
(8.51%)
7.55 47 3.4 / 5
Snapdeal 3
(6.38%)
5
(10.64%)
27
(57.45%)
12
(25.53%)
0
(0%)
9.65 47 3.02 / 5
PayTM 2
(4.26%)
5
(10.64%)
30
(63.83%)
9
(19.15%)
1
(2.13%)
10.67 47 3.04 / 5
3.23 / 5

Rate the Customer Care Representative's Problem solving ability
Amazon 3
(6.38%)
3
(6.38%)
18
(38.3%)
16
(34.04%)
7
(14.89%)
6.41 47 3.45 / 5
Flipkart 4
(8.51%)
4
(8.51%)
18
(38.3%)
15
(31.91%)
6
(12.77%)
5.92 47 3.32 / 5
Snapdeal 3
(6.38%)
3
(6.38%)
29
(61.7%)
11
(23.4%)
1
(2.13%)
10.38 47 3.09 / 5
PayTM 2
(4.26%)
4
(8.51%)
30
(63.83%)
10
(21.28%)
1
(2.13%)
10.76 47 3.09 / 5
3.23 / 5

Rate the Customer Care Representative's Response time
Amazon 3
(6.38%)
4
(8.51%)
19
(40.43%)
17
(36.17%)
4
(8.51%)
7.06 47 3.32 / 5
Flipkart 2
(4.26%)
5
(10.64%)
18
(38.3%)
17
(36.17%)
5
(10.64%)
6.71 47 3.38 / 5
Snapdeal 1
(2.13%)
2
(4.26%)
35
(74.47%)
8
(17.02%)
1
(2.13%)
13.06 47 3.13 / 5
PayTM 2
(4.26%)
5
(10.64%)
30
(63.83%)
9
(19.15%)
1
(2.13%)
10.67 47 3.04 / 5
3.22 / 5

Rate the Customer Care Representative based on Patience Level
Amazon 1
(2.13%)
5
(10.64%)
16
(34.04%)
19
(40.43%)
6
(12.77%)
6.89 47 3.51 / 5
Flipkart 2
(4.26%)
4
(8.51%)
17
(36.17%)
18
(38.3%)
6
(12.77%)
6.74 47 3.47 / 5
Snapdeal 1
(2.13%)
1
(2.13%)
28
(59.57%)
17
(36.17%)
0
(0%)
11.25 47 3.3 / 5
PayTM 1
(2.13%)
3
(6.38%)
30
(63.83%)
12
(25.53%)
1
(2.13%)
11.07 47 3.19 / 5
3.37 / 5

Conclusions
The results conclude that the snapdeal is lagging behind and has many learnings from Flipkart
and Amazon. The individual variable importance and the best practices in the industry will be
mapped accordingly in the next phase.
References & Bibliography
• http://www.iamwire.com/2013/04/navigating-through-e-commerce-customer-support-
issues/8320
• http://kwiksurveys.com/s/buh5qHoV
• http://mthink.com/article/customer-care-through-e-commerce-looking-glass/
• https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/06/customer-service-for-ecommerce.html
• The Rise and Rise of E-Commerce in India, Aranca Research, IBEF
• Investigating customer satisfaction dimensions with service quality of online auctions: an
empirical investigation of e-Bay, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012
• www.snapdeal.com
• www.amazon.in
• www.flipkart.com
• www.paytm.com

Benchmarking E-commerce Customer Care

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