As expected, after shut down of of eBay India operations, e-commerce giant Flipkart, now backed by Walmart, has launched a new platform called 2GUD for refurbished goods and products, which is currently available only on its mobile site.
2GUD will eventually be available on across desktops and other channels. The site is rolling out laptops, smartphones, tablets and electronic accessories. The platform will soon be extended to other categories including home appliances.
Flipkart claims that all the refurbished products on 2GUD have been “thoroughly tested and certified with warranty”, something it claims will help mitigate the trust issue in the space that it claims is “still largely unorganised.” Flipkart’s 2GUD will provide a post purchase warranty ranging from 3 to 12 months, and that products sold will be serviced through a network of service centres across the country.
Prices of the products on 2GUD will vary from 50%-80% of the original price depending on the certification of the product.
Since year 2016, Flipkart wanted to enter the refurbished goods market. which it says is expected to be a $20 billion (roughly Rs. 1,39,740 crores) market in 5-6 years.
“This (refurbished site) is for the aspirational customer in India. The refurbished market is unorganised and we want to organise it and break the barrier of trust,” said Flipkart’s CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy.
This move comes as per Flipkart’s plans following eBay’s decision to part ways with the company. Flipkart had acquired eBay’s India unit last year as it raised $1.4 billion from tech giants such as Microsoft and Tencent. eBay also invested $500 million in equity stake along with selling its India arm.
According to a report in The Economic Times, several members from the eBay team have been integrated with Flipkart’s 2GUD team. Products on offer on 2GUD are refurbished either using Flipkart’s F1 Info Solutions or other third party services. The company also offers a post-purchase warranty of 3 to 12 months.
Source: IndianWeb2
