Snapdeal launches premium membership to take on Flipkart Assured, Amazon Prime

The competition among the top e-commerce firms in the country has intensified. In the latest move to stay relevant amid rivals, e-commerce portal Snapdeal announced the launch of its premium services bundle - Snapdeal Gold, on Monday. Snapdeal Gold membership will offer customers free shipping, free upgrade to next-day-delivery, and extended purchase protection.

“Snapdeal Gold is a free service upgrade that is available anytime a user pays for the purchase through Net Banking, Credit/Debit card, EMI or wallet at the time of booking the order. With Snapdeal Gold customers get what they value the most – free shipping, free next day delivery, 100% quality check on all products, and extended 14-days return period on their orders,” said the company in a release.

Currently, the service does not require any subscription or payment of fees for an upgrade to Snapdeal Gold. It will automatically upgrade to Snapdeal Gold if the payment is being made through credit/ debit cards, net banking, and so on.

Last week, Snapdeal also had extended its next day delivery to 104 cities across India.

Most of the five million-plus products available through SD+ (Snapdeal’s fulfilment centres) will be covered with Snapdeal Gold upgrades.

Just last week, rival Flipkart announced the launch of ‘Flipkart Assured’ which assured customers of better quality products and faster delivery.

“The 'Flipkart Assured' badge is a seal of quality and speed. Products with this badge meet our extensive quality & packaging guidelines along with having faster delivery times. With stringent seller & product selection combined with fast & free (free shipping for orders above Rs 500) delivery”, said Flipkart.

While Flipkart will ship orders above Rs 500 for free, Amazon Prime ships all the orders eligible under the 'Prime' service for free, with a one- or two-day delivery assurance. The subscription fee for Amazon Prime is Rs 499.

Last month, Amazon in an effort to increase its foothold in the Indian market introduced Amazon Prime services in India which gives its members unlimited free delivery on purchases of any product, faster delivery, among other benefits.