Overview

Here in Bengaluru, as the September air begins to carry the first hints of the upcoming festive season, the hum inside Flipkart‘s offices grows into a buzz of anticipation. For most of us, this means wishlists and looking forward to The Big Billion Days. But for the teams within these walls, it signifies the start of their most demanding and most rewarding time of year. Soon, millions of orders — each a unique aspiration, a necessary purchase, or a thoughtful gift — will begin their journey across the nation.

Beneath this incredible logistical feat lies a simple, human question: What happens after I click ‘buy’? This is the question that Suresh John, Vice President of Customer Experience, and his team at OneCX live and breathe every single day. Their mission is to navigate the complexities of the post-purchase journey, transforming moments of potential anxiety — such as delayed packages, returns, or simple queries — into experiences of trust and reassurance. We sat down with him to understand the philosophy, the people, and the technology that go into building that trust, one order at a time.

Q1: The moment a customer completes a purchase is just the start of their journey with Flipkart. What is the core philosophy that drives your team when it comes to the post-purchase experience?

That’s exactly right. Our Customer Experience philosophy at Flipkart is built on a simple yet powerful belief: the true test of our relationship with a customer happens after they’ve placed their trust in us with an order. We are relentlessly focused on building long-lasting trust.

This means we obsess over the details. We understand that moments of anxiety can arise, and our goal is to make these moments as seamless and stress-free as possible. We’re driving towards a culture of “Zero Defects,” but where imperfections do occur, our commitment is to resolve them with empathy, speed, and fairness. It’s about owning the experience, end-to-end.

Q2: Let’s talk about those potentially frustrating moments. Returns or delivery delays can be a major pain point. What concrete steps is your team taking to improve this?

We hear you, and we’ve been working tirelessly on this. For returns, we’ve introduced a conversational chatbot that makes the process quick and intuitive. For some issues, we’ve even enabled ‘inline adjudication,’ which means our support agents can resolve a return request right there on the call. We’re also constantly improving the doorstep pickup experience for both our customers and our Wishmasters.

Beyond returns, we tackle delays proactively. Our systems send you alerts if a delay is anticipated, and we prioritize these shipments to get them back on track. And I think this is important during a sale like The Big Billion Days. Our ‘Deal Protection’ program ensures that if a cancellation occurs, our customers don’t lose out on the value they were promised. It’s about anticipating the problem and having a solution ready.

Q3: That sounds like a massive effort. How do you cultivate this customer-first culture within Flipkart’s own teams?

I’m incredibly passionate about this. A customer-first mindset has to be part of our DNA. That’s why we created innovative programs like FIXR and FlipSpot. Think of these as an internal crowdsourcing platform where Flipsters can directly flag and suggest solutions for customer pain points they observe. Our Flipsters are our most empathetic critics because they are customers too! This fosters a powerful culture where every employee feels personally responsible for the customer’s experience. It’s a compassionate, collective effort that shows our team truly cares.

Q4: Technology and AI are changing the game. How is Flipkart using these tools, and are you moving away from human interaction?

Suresh: Quite the opposite. Our approach is to use technology not to replace the human touch, but to amplify it. Our advanced Gen AI-powered chatbot now effectively handles over two-thirds of customer interactions, providing instant and accurate answers.

This is a huge benefit because it frees up our brilliant customer support agents to focus on more complex Flipkart customer experience issues that require a human touch. We’ve even equipped our agents with AI Co-pilots — tools that assist them with real-time information, allowing them to resolve your issues faster and with greater confidence. It’s about creating a smarter system where technology handles the routine, and our talented people handle the exceptional.

Q5: Today’s customers, especially Gen Z, communicate very differently. How are you adapting to their expectations for speed and authenticity?

Suresh: We recognize that for our Gen Z customers, the experience is about instant gratification and authentic connection. We’ve revamped our messaging to use more Gen Z-friendly lingo — it’s direct, concise, and visual, using emojis and GIFs. Crucially, we are meeting them on their preferred channels, including Whatsapp. This festive season, we’re scaling our chat channel by 6x because we know they prefer it over traditional calls. We’re not just a retailer; we’re building a relationship with a generation that values a truly effortless and genuine experience.

Q6: Looking ahead to The Big Billion Days 2025, what exciting new initiatives can customers expect that will elevate their experience?

Suresh: This festive season is all about amplifying the Flipkart customer experience. We’re launching a new ‘White Glove’ concierge service exclusively for our ‘Black’ tier customers, offering personalized, high-touch support for an unparalleled level of service.

We are also introducing a Price Match program. We know how disappointing it can be if a BBD order doesn’t get fulfilled. With this program, we promise that customers will get the benefits of the sale price when they re-order the item. It’s our way of ensuring no one misses out on the joy of The Big Billion Days. At its heart, everything we do is about making our customers feel valued, heard, and cared for—not just during a sale, but every single day. That’s our customer promise.