Bangalore is the IT capital of India and we also boast about being the startup capital (no offense to Zomato). So it is quite obvious that we also form a large community on social media. Social media these day's has come down to ranting and outraging but it still is one of the most effective ways a brand can understand its consumer sentiments. There are hardly brands these days that do not try to engage with customers. A few brands take a step further and organize meets where they get to present their product and get instant feedback. I was invited to be a part of one such meet organized by Indiblogger at the Hard Rock Cafe, where Flipkart introduced their "Image Search" feature.
This event was attended by around 100 bloggers who actively blogged about almost everything under the sun (not sure if there was anyone who blogged about outer space). Being in HRC, it was only fitting to start the event with music and yes it was IndiBand (the guys from Indiblogger) who performed for us. Then there was a quick intro sessions where a few people where presented with opportunity to talk about their blog. After the warm up sessions, the flipkart guys took control.
We live in a materialistic world where we tend to buy based on what we see and not exactly what we need (don't you dare deny this). Due to the short nature of our memory, we end up clicking pics of what me need and then window shop until we find that exact thing. Flipkart Image search leverages this exact human tendency. The concept is as simple as use the Flipkart App to click pictures and then the app finds the exact or similar looking product from their collection. Fun fact - Flipkart has over 30 million products in their catalog.
The Q & A was very interesting. It started with the primary concern of all the users - Is flipkart going app only? Well they say NO. They are giving more emphasis on the app for the primary reason that most of the rural population are taking up smart phones and app will be an easier medium to reach them with the bandwidth constraint. In another query, we were told that this is currently not a full fledged feature and for now only clothing and accessories are currently available. Privacy was a major concern and we were assured that Flipkart is framing policies and is definitely working towards it.
This is when the open bar was announced and people got the food and beverages flowing in. Post this break we did the activity. We were made to form groups and had to use the app to click pictures of things around us. If the app gets the same or similar looking product, we had to add it to our wishlist. The team that got the maximum items were declared winners. Well, its all for fun they said, no winners or losers. And Flipkart had undercover developers/testers amongst us to see how we used the app. To think of it, it was a lot of fun for us but it was beta app testing for Flipkart folks (smart right! no wonder these guys are the leading eCom site).
There was also the book reading and launch event of the Indiblogger selection - 10 Love Stories. We got a free copy too :D
I think this is my 6th Indiblogger meet and with every meet, I have got to meet new people and make new friends. The event concluded with lunch and a performance by the HRC team with "their thing" :)
Image Courtesy: Photos uploaded by Indiblogger on Facebook.
You might also be interested to read: Enough is Enough, #GoSleeekASUSExperience, Aero India 2015, Comicon
The Q & A was very interesting. It started with the primary concern of all the users - Is flipkart going app only? Well they say NO. They are giving more emphasis on the app for the primary reason that most of the rural population are taking up smart phones and app will be an easier medium to reach them with the bandwidth constraint. In another query, we were told that this is currently not a full fledged feature and for now only clothing and accessories are currently available. Privacy was a major concern and we were assured that Flipkart is framing policies and is definitely working towards it.
This is when the open bar was announced and people got the food and beverages flowing in. Post this break we did the activity. We were made to form groups and had to use the app to click pictures of things around us. If the app gets the same or similar looking product, we had to add it to our wishlist. The team that got the maximum items were declared winners. Well, its all for fun they said, no winners or losers. And Flipkart had undercover developers/testers amongst us to see how we used the app. To think of it, it was a lot of fun for us but it was beta app testing for Flipkart folks (smart right! no wonder these guys are the leading eCom site).
There was also the book reading and launch event of the Indiblogger selection - 10 Love Stories. We got a free copy too :D
You might also be interested to read: Enough is Enough, #GoSleeekASUSExperience, Aero India 2015, Comicon
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