Reviews of some popular Online Shopping Websites in India May'14 - My Take - Random Wednesday

Hey all my dear readers! Let me welcome you all to my blog on this Random Wednesday at Blog de Toxifier! :D



I was thinking of updating my previous post on Online Shopping Website Comparison. But then I thought It'd be better to make new post with recent happenings and experiences.



So here for you all a "My Take" on the Online Shopping Websites in India. I used May '14 in this post to indicate that this one depends on my experiences upto that period. If I ever post again such a post, it will have a different month and perhaps year.



So let's start :D

Myntra (Myntra.com)

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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My favourite destination to buy Fashion Online. Would you believe? I ordered my Adidas Blazon at 8:45 am and received them at 4:45 pm the same day? Yes! They have done the quickest delivery to me of all the Online Shopping Websites O have ever purchased with. But that's not all. I placed an order of around 15 clothes (worth around 20,000) and got them within 36 hours of placing my order! All the packaging was good, and products being genuine too :D

They improved on the speed of their website in past months and their website now loads up superfast! Maybe they read my last review :D They have also improved their packaging and have started to box-pack all the goods they deliver. When I ordered my Adidas shoes, the box of the shoes was ruined. I put that in my feedback, though rest of the things were fine so I gave them 10/10 on everything else that day. A couple of days later, they called me to clarify that they tried to pack the product as good as they could and the box might have been ruined during transportation. I told them it's okay, but they can bubble wrap shoe boxes, and box pack other clothes they deliver which would prevent any such issues. When I purchased something again after a couple of months, I got everything box packed! Last month I purchased a jeans from them, and guess what?! Not only it was packed in a box, but the box was sealed in a thin plastic wrap! For the first time I saw customer feedback being heard by some people! Just too good myntra! :)

Their pricing has improved and are already at par with the offline stores. Moreover, they give coupons year round! So you get everything at a discounted price for sure :D And when they run a sale on their website, well! MYNTRA IS THE BEST then :D I bought a sweatshirt, for example. he price in store during sale season was 2160 INR, but at myntra it was 1300 INR!

Always supporting Cash on Delivery is the main plus point since it is better to pay cash than using Online Transactions which can be risky.

Still I didn't give them 5/5? Well, quick delivery is not just one thing to be considered dear. There are a lot of other things I have to consider before reviewing. They deal just in fashion but still lack a lot of things I would have bought. For example, only a small collection of Mid Rise Jeans by good companies like Wrangler, Levis, etc. If they add more of that, and add my favourite brands like Louis Phillippe and Van Huesen, I am sure to give them a 5/5 :D

I have bought 3 bags, a pair of shoes, more than 15 shirts, 5 women purses/handbags, 5 pair of jeans, and many socks and briefs! LOL! You can say till date I have purchased goods of worth around 50,000 INR from Myntra in last 2 years! Only once had a bad experience , but the customer support was great and helped me. So I give them a 4.5/5(why not 5/5 I have already discussed).

Myntra also features a lot of exclusive and signature brands, like HRX, and Being Human. Apart from that, their own brands are good too.

They have recently started the rewards point system and I got a platinum membership! :D Thus, a lot of points on every purchase, implying a greater discount on my next purchase! :D

Breakup of the rating I gave to Myntra:

Layout	5/5
Speed of Website	4.5/5
Customer Support	3.5/5
Product Availability	4/5
Ease of Use	5/5
Price	4.5/5
Packing	5/5

The average becomes approx. 4.5/5 so good to go, right? :)

Didn't checked my experience with any other reviews so cannot comment what other people feel for this website. Though among my friends, Jabong is more popular, though I personally love myntra! :D

Flipkart (Flipkart.com)

My Rating: 4 out of 5
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The second one on my list is Flipkart, an Indian Shopping Website based in Bangalore, India.



Started with a bad experience, this is one website I now have a great experience with and now consider it to be my top priority. Whenever I need to buy something online I first search it on Flipkart! Earlier whenever I had to see the highest price of the commodity on Internet I consulted Flipkart, now I can find the best and the most competitive price on Flipkart, they have improved a great deal.

I bought 3 mobile phones, an external hard disk, pen drives, watch, accessories, books, and computer supplies etc. through this website at a rate lower than most of the websites. I would say their delivery is fast and packing is good too. I like this website. Greatly recommend it. They use high quality bubble wraps and good boxes to pack the goods. The already box packed goods, are also bubble wrapped and packed in their box which saves the original product box from the slightest nook/bump!

Reason for not giving 5/5 is my past experience of Hard Disk and RAM and bad customer support. Since I didn't contact the customer care after that in any of the purchases, since I didn't need to :D, I won't comment on customer support this time for Flipkart. If they continue to be good now, I might consider a 4.5/5 in my next review perhaps! :)

They have also introduced a couple of new features like In-a-day guarantee (they seem to have been liking Amazon, eh! :P) and payzippy (e-wallet, seems they like ebay too! :O)

Breakup of the rating for Flipkart:

Layout	4.5/5
Speed of Website	5/5
Customer Support	N/A -- Can't review -- Didn't require to contact them
Product Availability	4/5
Ease of Use	4.5/5
Price	4.5/5
Packing	5/5

Thus 4 out of 5 is my rating for Flipkart. :)

My friends too have had a great experience of buying from Flipkart. Many people on Internet say they were delivered quickly even at remote locations. So perhaps, my experience is rightly reviewed by me this time too! :D

eBay (ebay.in)

My Rating: 3.0 out of 5
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A website I loved the most, but now I am scared to use! Yes, it is eBay, a popular Online Shopping Website, not just in India but around the world. The prices and coupons make this website a great catch but would lure anyone who thinks it to be too trustworthy like I did.

I won't talk about my bad experience with eBay again, but yes since what happened with my purchase of a calculator, I was taught a lesson to be ultra-cautious while purchasing online. Still I bought a RAM from eBay earlier this year and a couple of mobile accessories. The experience was good to be precise. They have improved themselves. The goods were not packed in seller's packaging, rather eBay had packed them. Seems like eBay too has got some warehouses now to do the work like other websites are doing. My experience has been improved with them since last year, though honestly, I am still scared of buying from them!

Thus, eBay! I give you 3.0 star.

Let's break up this rating that I gave to eBay:

Layout	4/5
Speed of Website	4/5
Customer Support	May have improved since my last encounter Thus no comments
Product Availability	4/5
Ease of Use	4/5

Infibeam (infibeam.com)

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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Infibeam is another great Indian shopping Website. It is based in Gujarat, I suppose. My experiences so far with this website have been good. I don't know why, but I just love this website! :D

The packaging of the products is awesome, is just superb. They pack the products so well that there should be no transit-or-handling damages to the product. They would uses so many bubble wrap sheets that the product or it's box will never be damaged! Their outer covering is also good, and the packing bag looks good :D

I have bought Pen Drives, Cooling Pad, Chocolate Syrup, accessories, etc. etc. etc. from this website and the experience has been good so far. They have great customer support and they can hold your shipment if you ask them to do so for a while.

They have a Magic Box page that they update daily at 00:00 (Indian Standard Time). Magic Box @Infibeam features great deals are superb prices!

For a great experience I give Infibeam 4.5 out of 5 stars :)

Breakup of my rating for Infibeam:

Layout	4/5
Speed of Website	4.5/5
Customer Support	4.5/5
Product Availability	4/5
Ease of Use	5/5
Price	4.5/5
Packing	5/5

I didn't search for any reviews on Internet to confirm my experience with that of others. But my friends suggested me this website. They all have had good experiences with this website and say they deliver real quick and have the best prices. And I agree to that all! :D

SnapDeal (snapdeal.com)

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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I have had a good experience with everything I bought from Snapdeal. The prices are real cool and delivery is quick and packing is good too. Precisely, the products are priced, 10 or 20 bucks less than Flipkart! LOL! Their minimum order for Free Delivery is less than that of Flipkart.

I have bought earphones, headphones, shaving blades, body lotion, shaving cream, after shave lotions, books, etc. from this website and all my experiences have been good so far. Once had to contact the customer support to delay my delivery since I wasn't home, it was good to contact them. No problems then why not 5/5? Because not everything is available. Things go out of stock, and remain out of stock, sometimes the prices are high, rather than being competitive.

Still this is a good website and I always consider it whenever I buy online.

Breakup of the rating I gave to Snapdeal:

Layout	4/5
Speed of Website	4/5
Customer Support	5/5
Product Availability	3.5/5
Ease of Use	5/5
Price	4.5/5
Packing	4.5/5

Freecharge (freecharge.in)

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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I guess I am no longer going out of my home to recharge my mobile phone! :D This website is completely awesome. It beats any website that offers online recharge for prepaid mobiles, bill payment for postpaid mobiles/DTH services. They have coupons that discount your evey recharge all the time! :D

That's not all, they got some real good deals which unlock as per your recharge amount. These deals are in the form of coupons which may be available for free or at a nominal fee of 5 to 20 INR with benefits worht 50-200 INR! The scaling is good, right?

The recharges are quick and successful, and in case they are experiencing any problems, they warn you as soon as you enter your mobile number.

I find them totally amazing. As long as they have the cool deals and coupons, they will remain on the top charts! :)

Breakup of the rating I gave to Freecharge:

Layout	5/5
Speed of Website	5/5
Customer Support	N/A Not encountered yet
Product Availability	4/5 The special recharges are available less often
Ease of Use	5/5
Price	5/5 due to coupons and deals
Packing	N/A

Pepperfry (Pepperfry.com)

My Rating: 4 out of 5
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I have made just one purchase with them as yet, but their deals are quite lucrative. I have not been able to buy from them a lot of times just because a good deal ended in no time! LOL!

I recently purchased a set of Tupperware containers which were no longer available with most local dealers I had contacts with. Moreover, I bout them at a nice price!

My experience with Pepperfry was good. They delivered real fast, and the packing was good. They seem to be more of a furniture destination and their collection is really awesome. Though, furniture never seems to be easy on pocket, so I guess I won't buy furniture online. But Pepperfry seems to be a good website with good deals every now and then. Products like deodrants and soaps are available with them, though their collection features a lot exotic products and supplies (beauty, kitchen supplies, etc.) and not the general ones that are available with the local shops.

Breakup of the rating I gave to Pepperfry:

Layout	4.5/5
Speed of Website	4/5
Customer Support	N/A Not yet contacted/td>
Product Availability	3.5/5 They have more of the exotic stuff
Ease of Use	5/5
Price	4.5/5
Packing	4.5/5

Star CJ (starcj.com)

My Rating: 4.0 out of 5
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As yet I have made just one purchase from them, a set of 7 sarees. They were featuring them on television when I ordered it by phone.

The product packaging was really really good. The product was delivered in time, though not quickly. The products were same as were featured on TV and also the quality was worth the price.

The deals are good and the prices is are really nice. They have some exclusively available products in their collection.

Breakup of the rating I gave to Star CJ:

Layout	3.5/5
Speed of Website	3/5
Customer Support	5/5
Product Availability	3.5/5
Ease of Use	5/5
Price	4.5/5
Packing	5/5

I hope the websites won't have any problems with me reviewing them without their consent since these are honest reviews and they should appreciate that people would know about these websites and the websites can improve them if I pointed any flaw. Still if anyone finds any of these reviews bad, please don't sue me(LOL!). Just let me know if you belong to that company and I should remove any content.



I hope everyone who reads this post finds it useful. Please feel free to post your suggestions, comments and reviews in the comments. These reviews are honest and based on my own experiences. I wasn't paid to write them in case you think these are morphed. They are real 100% based on my own personal experience.
Good evening all! :) And happy new month of MAY! :)