Flipkart scales smart upgrade, product exchange across new categories

In view of festive season and the Big Billion Days sale event, the e-commerce firm is running the programme across mobiles, large and small home appliances and electronic products

In view of the upcoming festive season and the Big Billion Days sale event, e-commerce firm Flipkart is now making its industry-first affordability offerings, the Smart Upgrade Plan and Product Exchange program, available for products across mobiles, large and small home appliances and electronic products. Designed to offer easy upgrade and affordability options to customers, both programs have seen significant customer adoption over the years. Last year during the Big Billion Days, there was a 50 per cent increase in people availing product exchange for mobiles.

With the scale-up of these two programs, millions of customers will now be able to upgrade and purchase high ticket products in an affordable manner. The programs that initially started with mobiles and laptops are now available under several other categories, including TVs, refrigerators, washing machines and tablets. Small home appliances such as fans, mixer grinders, and water purifiers are also being added under the product exchange program, allowing customers to get value for old electronic items while upgrading to newer products in a first for this segment.

“We understand that customers seek to upgrade to or purchase aspirational products around the festive season for gifting and home improvement. We are consistently striving to enhance our affordability constructs so that customers can fulfil these aspirations without any financial constraints,” said Ranjith Boyanapalli, head, fintech and payments group at Flipkart. “While we pioneered the Smart Upgrade and Product Exchange last year and received an encouraging response, we are expanding the offerings this year to make it more widely accessible to our customer base, including those who are new-to-credit.”

The Flipkart Smart Upgrade plan allows customers to upgrade their smartphones, electronic and home appliances so that prices are not deterrent in their purchase making decisions and aspirations. Under this plan, customers can purchase a new appliance and have to pay only 70-75 per cent of the price of the chosen product and select a payment tenure during the initial purchase. They can keep the product by paying the remaining amount at the end of the tenure or upgrade to another product by exchanging for a better spec product in an affordable and smart way. Several brands, including Mi, Whirlpool and IFB, are a part of this program to enable a seamless and affordable upgrade for customers.

As the festive season is considered auspicious, customers usually make large purchases to upgrade their household items. Flipkart said the two programs will play a pivotal role in enabling them to do so in a seamless manner. The available tenures and upfront amount to be paid under Flipkart Smart Upgrade Plan will vary from product to product.