Flipkart's 'Project Nanjunda' Launched to Boost Safety of Delivery Staff

To safeguard their field executives e-commerce platform Flipkart on Wednesday launched "Project Nanjunda" that enables them to send an SOS in case of an emergency.

The project has been named after the murder of the e-commerce site's delivery staff Nanjunda Swamy in Vijayanagar in Bengaluru recently.

"Flipkart Wishmasters form the backbone of our business, delivering wishes daily to millions of customers across India. Ensuring their safety is a primary priority for us. Over the days following the demise of Wishmaster, Nanjunda Swamy, our teams have worked relentlessly to deliver this feature in less than a month - in order to ensure our field staff is safe while on their delivery trips," said Nitin Seth, Chief Operating Officer, Flipkart.

He further added, "We firmly believe in adopting a safety-first approach while delivering wishes, and with this SOS feature, our Wishmasters will be able to go the last mile in delivering high-quality field services to our customers with the utmost trust and safety."

Project Nanjunda will equip the mobile phones of the 'Wishmaster' with an app that features an SOS button, called "Nanjunda".

During an emergency, a field executive can trigger an SOS by pressing the "Nanjunda" button which sends SMS and email, alerting the hub-in-charge and nearest field executives.

It requires only mobile network connectivity to operate this feature, thus making it effective in virtually any place within India, the company said.

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The OnePlus 3 will go on sale at Rs 18,999 at 4PM on 18 December on Flipkart

In what is possibly the deal of the year, Flipkart has announced that it will be selling the OnePlus 3 on 18 December for at an unbelievable price of Rs 18,999!

The discount, a whopping Rs 9,000 off the original price, can be availed as a part of Flipkart’s Big Billion Days shopping festival that kicks off tonight. The OnePlus 3 normally retails for Rs 27,999. The OnePlus 3 is part of the so-called budget flagship range of smartphones that offer premium hardware at affordable prices. At Rs 27,999, the OnePlus 3 was already a great deal. The Rs 18,999 price tag, just made it a steal.

All OnePlus phones are exclusive to Amazon and OnePlus co-founder was quick to call out Flipkart on the offer.

.@_sachinbansal brother, what's this? We're exclusive with @amazonIN pic.twitter.com/0QBoyagoXz

— Carl Pei (@getpeid) December 16, 2016

OnePlus and Amazon subsequently issued a press release and took out full-page ads in newspapers reiterating OnePlus' Amazon Exclusive status. In the statement, Amazon India and OnePlus advise customers to purchase the device only via the official channel, i.e. Amazon India, as they cannot "guarantee the authenticity of products sold elsewhere."

Flipkart, however, remains unconcerned, stating that its own model gives sellers the freedom to sell products at prices that they say fit. The company adds that "the prices and discounts offered are decided by participating brands and sellers."

It's not clear whether the phones on sale are new devices or refurbished ones. Given the Amazon exclusivity of the smartphone, it's also not clear whether any warranty claims will be honoured.

Either way, this is a great deal and if you’re looking for a new smartphone, the OnePlus 3 is a phone I personally use as my daily driver and would be the top on the recommendation list, especially at this price.

The OnePlus 3 is powered by a Snapdragon 820 SoC and 6GB RAM. The display is a 5.5 inch AMOLED screen with a Full HD resolution of 1920×1080. You get 64GB of storage, a 16MP rear camera, an 8MP front camera and a 3,000 mAh battery.

OnePlus has also announced a replacement for the OnePlus 3 in the form of the OnePlus 3T.

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Flipkart pulls the plug on Ping, working on user-seller interaction feature

Remember, Flipkart's social feature Ping that let you discuss shopping within the app. The company has now decided to pull the plug on the feature, owing to lack of interest, according to a report by Business Standard. Seriously who used that feature!

Ping was introduced as an invite-only feature, and on installing, one would find a bubble-like chat icon on every page one navigates. Once you start chatting with a friend, it would throw options such as sharing your wishlist, cart, screen share, photos and videos from the gallery, and simply click a photo and share it.

While Ping is gone, Flipkart is believed to be planning a new feature that will allow users to chat with sellers and customer care executives.

The new pilot feature isn't surprising as, at the Surge 2016, Flipkart booth did put up a screen showing Ping that seemed like demonstrating something similar. It should be noted that Snapdeal already has Shopo, which allows buyers to chat with small scale retailers. And, finally Flipkart has also realized that social experience in e-commerce isn't something users prefer, as users have ample of options to discuss shopping over social networks.

Apart from Ping, the company has also discontinued its 'image search' feature, that was aimed at fashion shoppers looking for clothes on Flipkart similar to ones in pictures. A statement from Flipkart cited difficulty with usability as the reason for the features demise, where "many customers struggled with understanding how to upload an image."

Both Ping and Image Search were part of Flipkart's focus on building a mobile-only app ecosystem, with the features being used as hooks to make people download the app on their smartphones. As the company now reverts back to innovating for other platforms such as web and PCs, it is withdrawing the features as well.

While image search will be discontinued, the Flipkart app will retain its visually similar feature which it says has seen a lot more traction from users. Recently the company relaunched the desktop and mobile shopping websites for its fashion subsidiary Myntra, as it looks to tap users who it blocked out by switching to a mobile-only service.

Meanwhile, some other reports floating online claim that a small group of sellers is threatening to cut ties with Flipkart over the new changes in policy implemented by Flipkart.

LeEco Le 2, Le Max 2's First Flash Sale on June 28, Registrations Open Monday

The first flash sale of LeEco Le 2 and Le Max 2 smartphones will begin on June 28, LeEco announced on Friday.

Registrations for Le 2 and Le Max 2 will begin on June 20 on both Flipkart and LeMall, the company's recently launched e-commerce website.

For Le 2, registrations would be open till 11am IST and for Le Max 2, registrations would be open till 1pm IST on June 28.

The sale of Le 2 will begin at 12pm while for Le Max 2, it will begin at 2pm on June 28.

"We are confident that our second-generation smartphones on Flipkart will be top sellers, given their best-in-class specifications and design. The breakthrough CDLA technology which is a global-first along with the attractive Content Membership program bundling are unique propositions that are unmatched," said Atul Jain, COO Smart Electronics Business, LeEco India, in a statement.

People who buy the smartphones during the flash sale on June 28 can avail 10 percent cashback on SBI credit cards, free Le Headphones worth Rs. 1,990, and LeEco Membership worth Rs. 4,900.

To note, at the India launch earlier this month, LeEco had not detailed availability for the Le 2, only for the Le Max 2.The Le 2 is priced at Rs. 11,999, while the Le Max 2 is priced at Rs. 22,999 for its 4GB RAM/ 32GB storage variant, and Rs. 29,999 for its 6GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant.

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