Extreme personalisation is the holy grail of ecommerce, and Flipkart is gearing up with big-data analytics and deep learning to know its customers like open books. Speech recognition may not be far behind
Utkarsh Bhriguvanshi is a sort of a freewheeling one-man army at Flipkart. Formally, he is a principal architect and an ‘IC’ or an individual contributor who loves to code, offer his expertise where needed and is generally among the top tinkerers at the Bengaluru headquartered company, India’s biggest ecommerce business.
“I came here more than six years ago; people must think I’m a dinosaur,” he jokes. The self deprecatory humour hides a razor-sharp mind that is among those constantly tapped by the company’s senior most people, including Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kalyan Krishnamurthy, 45, and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Ravi Garikipati, 52.
Bhriguvanshi, 37, says Flipkart is in its third phase of technological advancement: From solving problems like ensuring a trustworthy sale of a book or a mobile accessory in the early years, to figuring out how to support scale—meaning, a very large number of transactions—“by 2014, when we had become a monster [company]”, to now doing things intelligently.
“That means personalised experience. That is the holy grail,” said Garikipati in a recent interview to Forbes India. “The app experience that you see should be different from what I see.”
For instance, at its five-day Big 10 sale that concluded on May 18— part of celebrating the company’s 10th anniversary—Flipkart was able to target specific products at women in metros, while men were shown something else on their app home page. “Gender affinity” is what they call it.
Bu hikaye Forbes India dergisinin July 21, 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Forbes India dergisinin July 21, 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Home-Cooked Meal Is Now Greatly Valued
The pandemic has also brought with it an improved focus on hygiene, use of technology in dining, rise of cloud kitchens and resurgence in popularity of Indian ingredients
Paytm 3.0 - Reaching Near Breakeven In Two Years
As of 2020, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s super app for financial services had run up losses in thousands of crores. Now, as digital payments gets yet another boost courtesy Covid-19, he’s hopeful of reaching near breakeven in two years
THE PANDEMIC HAS CAUSED WOMEN GREATER LABOUR PAIN
Covid-19 has shown that women are more likely to face the brunt of job losses than men, and find fewer opportunities when they want to resume. That apart, several have to deal with increased hours of unpaid work at home and even domestic abuse
LEADERSHIP WILL BE ABOUT SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE
Leaders must not only guard their teams first during a crisis, but also deal with stakeholders with respect and dignity. And apart from pursuing business goals, they should remain committed to our planet and the environment
PHILANTHROPY SHOULD BE HUMBLE, BUT NOT MODEST
Apart from building a flexible and resilient framework for the future, philanthropists, civil society and the government must work in tandem so that every rupee is absorbed on the ground
INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE, TECH WILL DISRUPT SECTOR
While clinical research will get a boost, having a skilled workforce and public spending on health care will be challenges in the near term
DIGITALISATION WILL HELP IN VALUE CREATION
As the pandemic brings technology and innovation to the core of business and daily life, the next decade will see about 150 million digital-first families in India
Industry 4.0: Climate Revolution?
Augmenting sustainability alongside digital capabilities is an economic, competitive and global opportunity for India’s businesses, but regulations need to reflect intent
EV Dream Still Miles Away
Electric vehicles have remained a buzzword in India for years. But not much has moved on ground due to high upfront costs, range anxiety and charging infrastructure
Living Waters
A virus has caused us to scramble for oxygen but our chokehold on the environment is slowly strangling the very waters that breathe life into us. The virus is a timely reminder: We are merely consumers, not producers of life’s breath on this planet
