India’s leading e-commerce
marketplace Flipkart has acquired mobile repair chain F1 Info Solutions as it
looks to improve its after sales service offerings to customers on its
platform.
Smartphones account for over
50 per cent of the sales (by value) on Flipkart, making it the most important
category for the Indian e-tailer. With F1 Info Solutions, the company will gain
access to its own chain of service centres across the country. F1 Info
Solutions will become a part of Jeeves, a firm that Flipkart invested
in 2014. Jeeves specializes in providing after-sales service for
large and small home appliances and furniture.
Following the acquisition, Flipkart will
be able to monetize its customers across the lifecycle of a product, rather
than just at the time of sale. According to the company, F1 Info
Solutions has 158 centres and these are located in 135 cities across the
country. The firm currently employs around 1,000 people who handle around
50,000 service calls every month. F1 Info is also a certified partner for
several global consumer technology majors such as Apple, Samsung, HP, Lenovo,
Sony and Asus.
The development comes at a time
when the ecommerce giant is gearing up to sell refurbished
smartphones ahead of Diwali. According to sources, Flipkart-certified
refurbished smartphones will soon be sold on the online marketplace and offline
outlets. To that end, the company is looking to team up with distributors for
offline sale, as part of a move aimed at lowering high return rates of handsets.
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