Flipkart First: Flipkart's paid subscription service goes live at Rs 500 a year; benefits include free shipping, free in-a-day delivery

Online retailing giant
Flipkart is going live with its
recently announced paid
subscription service, Flipkart First,
starting Wednesday. For an annual
membership of Rs 500, Flipkart
customers can avail a bunch of
exclusive benefits and priority
service features including free
shipping for all orders, free in-a-
day guarantee delivery, same-day-
guarantee delivery at 50 per cent
discount (Rs 70), and a 60-day
replacement policy.
As promised, the company is
offering the new service for free to
75,000 randomly selected
customers for a period of three
months. The company has started
sending out emails to the winners
of a 3-month free subscription to
Flipkart First.
The message in the emails being
sent out to the winners reads as:
"As you already know, you are one
of the 75,000 winners of a 3-month
free subscription to Flipkart First.
We are happy to inform that you
can begin using the Flipkart First
service immediately, valid for a
three-month period between June
11, 2014 and Sept 10, 2014."
Following the free trial period, they
can continue to enjoy the service
for a yearly fee of Rs 500.
You can go here to subscribe to
the Flipkart First service.
Flipkart First is aimed at rewarding
registered shoppers, which the
company claims are about 18
million for the portal, as well as
getting new ones on board.
Flipkart co-founder Binny said
customers in India are maturing
and looking at value over cost and
such services will push the
ecosystem to another level.
"We are the first in India to offer
such a service. Members will be
entitled to a host of exclusive
benefits as well as priority service.
They will always come first," said
Bansal.