FLIPCART

Technical Overview
 Round-the-clock operations.

 Technology plays a critical

role. Flipkart often refer to
themselves as a technology
company doing e-commerce.
THE WEBSITE: FLIPKART.COM

 It lists all the available products under

different headings such as books, mobiles,
cameras, CDs, etc.
 provides product description and reviews,
 excellent feedback mechanism and

discussion forums
 
OPERATING SYSTEM:

 Use open source software for their basic

infrastructure like the operating system.

 They use Linux as their implementation

technology for resource management, task
management and file management.

OPEN SOURCE DATABASE:

Flipkart works with popular open source

products such as Ubuntu, Mysql, Apache .
 DATABASE MANAGEMENT:
FlipKart’s current model is based on partnership with local
book vendors who keep updating the inventory. The process
is being automated for efficiency. There are around 3.5
million books in its database.
They use an ERP System for building systems for fulfillment
operations, end-to-end. The number of different business
flows that need to be dealt with here is a major challenge
for any pure-play e-commerce business. Ever increasing
users and data adds to challenges. Systems need to be
capable of handling huge amounts of structured data,
working with large complex code bases with software which
can scale with the number of users and data.
 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION:
A specific example where e-commerce entities are able
to use technology to compete well is in the area of Search
Engine Optimization. Flipkart has built an advantage over
its competitors based on its SEO. Flipkart can be found
on 130 keyword searches on search engines.
 DECISION MAKING: DATA MINING AND DATA
WAREHOUSING:
Given the explosive rate of growth, decision making
based on past experiences and rules of thumb results in
sub-optimal outcomes. What is needed is data driven
decision making and an analytics team to enable that.
The analytics team with functions like data
mining, data warehousing, predictive
analytics or in general tackling problem
solving, analytical reasoning and solving
fuzzy problems goes beyond building
reporting systems. makers.
 LOGISTICS:
From putting books online to delivering,
there is a lot of work to be done. For this,
Flipkart has about 100 people working in the
back end, which comprises ordering, stocking
operations, packaging, shipping, vendor
management, etc. They work with 300 book
distributors in 5 cities from whom they
procure books as well as 4 International
publishers.
  
 “At Flipkart, we use state-of-the-art technology, practice
second to none customer service and sustain a reliable supply
chain which adds to the dynamic selection, pricing and delivery
on our website. We have leaped from the start-up tag to a full-
blown brand. We no longer just sell books, but everything from
cameras to phones to computers. Our workforce continues to
expand so we are able to nurture our rapidly growing customer
base. India is at the cusp of an e-commerce revolution and
we’d like to keep Flipkart at the forefront of this revolution, as
pioneers and trend-setters. And we believe technology is one
crucial aspect of being in the lead.”
-Sachin Bansal, CEO,
Flipkart