eCommerce looks like a promising space and most of my friends are bullish about future of e-commerce businesses in India. I had a horrible experience with Indiatimes. They started a new concept called Indiatimes Book Club and invited (so called) few distinguished people to become a part of that. Unfortunately I was once of those distinguished people who were chosen. The offer was very hard to refuse:
1. Lifetime membership for only Rs 525
2. A discount coupon of Rs 525 which can be redeemed against any book (even in Big Bazaar)
3. Flat 25% discounts over and above the usual 10% discounts they give
Looks like the offer was valid only for a week and only for people like me. I hurriedly paid. I did not get any login id and password, even after waiting for 10 days and few e-mails. I looked into the website and here is what I found:
1. Rs 525 is only for one year. I need to renew it every year.
2. No disocount coupon. It was a fraud.
3. 25% disocount on most of the books. No you know what would “most of the” would mean. Very similar to “Upto 50% Off…on select merchandise”.
Wow! That was an eye opener. Now think of our (poor) young entrepreneur who is going to start e-commerce business in India. It will be very hard for prospective customers (like me)to trust anybody except Amazon. Good Luck!