Flipkart has cut down its return policy from 30 days returns window to 10 days now. This latest step by Flipkart is to address the concerns of sellers and increase their commission. The thirty-day return policy has been revised only for categories such as books, mobile, phones, and electronics. The changes will come into effect from July 2016.
While for all the products like clothing, footwear, watches, eyewear, jewelry, fashion accessories and large appliances, the thirty-day return policy still stands.
Recently Amazon India revised its return policy for mobiles in February, and they later extended the move to other electronics such as tablets, PCs, cameras, camera lenses and more. Amazon India has officially stated that devices can be replaced within ten days if found defective or damaged at the time of delivery.
Flipkart has also taken this step to address the concerns of the sellers who suffer additional expenses and bear the returns shipping cost. With the revision of the return period, both the companies will be addressing on the no-asked return policy which has become a nightmare for the sellers. Along with that, the price of products on Flipkart is expected to go up to nine percent.
In an official statement to ET, a Flipkart spokesperson stated –
The newly revised return period will enable sellers to have better control of their business and to manage their expenses. It has also been in keeping the consumer need as a better product will be available by the sellers online. Also, if we look at our market position we have better commission and fee structure than any other competitors in the market.
Along with that Flipkart will also discontinue its Zero+Commission Policy where it did not charge commission to individual sellers because they were allowed to advertise on the platform if a certain amount of fee is paid. So it made the sellers ship products to consumers without charging any shipping fee. But the new policy allows the sellers to charge customers for shipping cost.
