Flipkart Introduces Service to Help Resellers Reach Customers

Indian eCommerce giant Flipkart is getting into the reCommerce business.

The company on Wednesday (Sept. 25) introduced “Flipkart Reset for Business,” a mobile app designed to help small and big sellers of refurbished products across the country to connect with last-mile customers.

“The demand for refurbished products is surging, especially in India’s tier 2 and 3 cities,” the company said in a news release.

“However, sellers of refurbished products face significant challenges, including consumer skepticism about quality of refurbished products, inconsistent device supply, complex logistics, and a lack of standardized refurbishment practices.”

Flipkart says its news app helps alleviate these issues by offering competitive pricing, streamlined onboarding, “rigorous testing” and a 74-point quality check, which back every product with a warranty, “instilling confidence in sellers and their customers.”

According to the release, the platform serves more than 800 cities across India, with plans to expand the program “significantly.” At the moment, the platform sells smartphones and accessories, aiming to address a market for refurbished electronics goods in India that could grow to $11 billion in gross value by 2026.

In other reCommerce news, Amazon announced last week that it had begun offering independent sellers using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) in the U.S. a new option for managing product returns: Grade and Resell.

This program, which before now was just available to retail brands, provides a reseller channel that helps merchants recover value on returned inventory and gives customers a greater selection of preowned and open-box products, Amazon said.

In this program, items that are sent back to Amazon’s return centers are examined and then offered for resale, the eCommerce giant said.

“Before an item can be sold through Grade and Resell, we conduct a comprehensive inspection to thoroughly test the condition of each item and provide a detailed description of its condition to make it easier for customers to make a more informed purchase decision,” Gopal Pillai, vice president, worldwide returns and reCommerce at Amazon, wrote in the post. “For electronic items, we will power on, test and factory-reset as part of the evaluation.

“Based on the quality check, each item will be assigned one of four listing conditions: ‘Like New,’ ‘Very Good,’ ‘Good’ or ‘Acceptable,’” Pillai added.