E-commerce marketplaces Mahacomparison

Comparing Amazon, Myntra, Flipkart and Meesho on various parameters including product discovery, latency, product catalogue, checkout experience and payments

IndiaRetailing Insights: For about 37% of consumers, the delivery and returns experience of an e-commerce entity matters the most, a poll by IndiaRetailing found.

The second most important criterion is the variety and quality of products with 30% votes.

This is in comparison to the other features like seamless checkouts, ease of use, variety and quality of products.

This holds true irrespective of whether they’re shopping on a big banner marketplace or an individual mono-branded e-commerce website.

To understand how the top e-commerce marketplaces fare on these and other parameters when shopping online, we bring to you a maha-comparison of the big four—Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and Meesho.

The review has been done on similar grounds for different platforms and was tested on multiple devices at different internet speeds.

Clothes and shoes are the two most popular categories for online purchases as per Statista, we’ve chosen footwear as the major category for product discovery across the platforms reviewed for an unbiased review.

Another common criterion analysed was website latency and buffering time. IndiaRetailing had earlier reported that an average buffering time of below 2 seconds is in line with the industry standards as per experts in the field.

The results are a mix of a consumer poll by Indiaretailing conducted on LinkedIn as well as our review of the parameters. Let’s dive right into the results…

Amazon

The Seattle-based technology and e-commerce behemoth Amazon received the highest number of votes with 48% of respondents claiming that the platform performs well in the areas of user interface (UI), product discovery, checkout and post-purchase in a poll conducted by IndiaRetaling.

Website loading time: 1.78 seconds average

Mobile Application loading time: 2-3 seconds average

Product discovery and catalogue: Results for the keyword ‘Puma Sneakers’, showed up in a little over a second with more than 68 results on the first page. There were an additional six pages taking the total to more than 476 results on the website. It also included results from different brands as well.

On the mobile application, the same product category took a little less than one second with similar results. In addition, both these platforms offered various filters like price, gender, colour and many others. In terms of the specific product page, all details about its delivery, pricing and specifications were pretty mentioned clearly with also options to buy a similar product range from the brand store.

Payments and checkout: There were options for debit and credit cards, internet banking, UPI, cash on delivery, and EMI with additional promo and gift card options. The payments page also loaded fast and the checkout experience was seamless without latency.

Flipkart

As per the IndiaRetailing poll, the Bengaluru-based Walmart-owned e-commerce company Flipkart bagged the second position with 26% of respondents finding that it excels on all the mentioned parameters.

Website loading time: 1.68 seconds average

Mobile Application loading time: 2-3 seconds average

Product discovery and catalogue: Results for the keyword ‘Puma Sneakers’ appeared in one second with more than 40 results on the first page and an additional 25 pages taking the total to more than 1000 results with some repetition of products.

On the mobile application, the same keyword took the same time with similar results. In addition, both the app and website offered various filters like price, gender, colours and many others.

One additional criterion that Flipkart offers is the inclusion of sections like lowest price, premium brands and high quality.

On the specific product page, all details about the item’s delivery, pricing and specifications were spread and clear to with options to buy a similar product range from the brand store.

Payments and checkout: This offers options similar to Amazon like cards, internet banking, UPI, cash on delivery, and EMI with additional promo and gift card options. The payments page also loaded pretty fast and the checkout experience was seamless without latency. The main difference in this is the inclusion of super coins as cashback on every purchase.

Meesho

A relative newcomer in the space, Meesho was launched in  2015 and has been gaining massive popularity in tier 2 and beyond cities.

Despite its popularity, Meesho only got 2% of the votes in the poll that IndiaRetailing conducted.

Website loading time: 1.72 seconds average

Mobile Application loading time: 2-3 seconds average

Product discovery and catalogue: On searching the keyword ‘Puma Sneakers,’ there were no relevant results. However, on searching the keyword ‘Sneakers’, more than 280 results showed up in almost one second, all on the same page with an infinite scroll.

Most of the products ranged in the price category of Rs 300-Rs 500 with no major brands in the list.

On the mobile application, the same product category took only one second with similar results. In addition, both the website and the app had filters like price, colours, new arrivals and high quality. The specific product page lacked some amount of visual appeal and other engaging factors as compared to competitors.

Payments and checkout: Before adding the product to the cart, the platform asked for two options that included an easy return option and a wrong/only defective option which also ranged in price. This feature in returns was new and was not available with competitors.

Other payment options were similar to competitors. The payments page also loaded fast and the checkout experience was seamless and without latency.

Myntra

Bengaluru-based fashion and lifestyle e-commerce platform Myntra owned by Flipkart bagged the third position in the poll conducted by IndiaRetailing with 24% of respondents responding in favour of the tech-rich fashion e-commerce platform.

Website loading time: 1.9 seconds average

Mobile Application loading time: 2 seconds average

Product discovery and catalogue: On searching the keyword ‘Puma Sneakers’, the result appeared in one second with more than 42 results on the first page with an additional 25 pages taking the total to more than 1000 results.

On the mobile application, the brand asked the reviewer to mention age and gender to yield more personalised responses. The product search took around the same time with similar results. Myntra’s top filter included a toggle for Shopping and Trends with filters like top brands, top rated and new season.

Payments and checkout: This page offers similar features to the others like cards, internet banking, UPI, cash on delivery, and EMI with additional promo and gift card options. The payments page also loaded fast and the checkout experience was seamless without latency. The company also had super coins as cashback on every purchase.

Final word

• In all the four e-commerce websites and their corresponding mobile applications reviewed, a high latency was recorded in the mobile application which ranged in the average of 3-4 seconds.
• In terms of popularity, Amazon beats all. Myntra and Flipkart are equally popular in the poll conducted by IndiaRetailing.
• Every platform offered one additional feature that acted as a USP and was unique to it. For example, age preference in Myntra, returns preference in Meesho and many more.
• The home page of all the reviewed platforms showed contemporary trends and offers based on different occasions, times and age groups in almost all the categories.
• While Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho fared well in categories like electronics, appliances and gadgets, Myntra stood as a standalone option for most of the fashion needs in terms of its offerings and other AI-based cutting-edge technologies to enhance customer experience.