Philips launches e-commerce initiative

BANGALORE: Philips India Limited has launched its e-commerce initiative,

E-Shop at philipsindia.com. The site provides integration, scalability and

delivery of content. A company press release claims that this is the world’s

first voice activated Web site from a consumer durable company. The site has

automatic authentication of credit cards that prevents any manual interface,

facilitating safe and instantaneous response.

Only products that are not in conflict with the traditional retail channel

will be offered on the site. The very latest offerings in audio and television

to top-of-the-line products will be showcased at E-Shop. Especially useful to

the sizeable NRI community, the site offers services that enable purchase from

any part of the world and delivery in India. Philips India sr. vice president

consumer electronics Rajeev Karwal said, "The move towards e-commerce is a

logical one. The trend the world over shows a market preference for business and

management of customer relationship over the Net."

Philips India plans to adopt a Customer Relationship Management model that

would help in achieving mass customization. This means every customer will be

able to design products to his/her tastes, judgements and accessory combination.

Additional features include service assurance to consumers through on-line

complaint registration. Philips will be putting all its service centers on-line,

connecting them with its central service department for ordering spares,

tracking quality and maintaining a customer database.