Quikr NXT: Chat with sellers before buying

Quikr, as you all know, is India’s most popular Online classifieds website. You can buy old/used products in good condition (needless to say – at a great price) or new products, depending on what you might need.

Quikr has recently introduced a new feature called Quikr NXT that allows buyers and sellers to chat with each other, on their desktop website, and mobile website, and mobile app.

A few sellers have enabled this option and buyers can send them a message to which they may reply immediately if they are online. Buyers and sellers can also exchange photos, and the saved chat history can be accessed later on.

This is a useful feature to have especially when buyers have not decided whether they want to buy something, or if they want more details on a product that has been advertised by the seller.

Since online chat is relatively anonymous, buyers need not disclose their cell phone numbers to the sellers, and hence can avoid disclosing their phone number and avoid any calls requesting to buy.

Chat, as you can guess, is faster. If the seller is Online or gets notification in their mobile, they can immediately reply which makes the decision making/buying process faster and easier, both for the buyer and seller.

I checked on their site and a few sellers have enabled the chat option. Buyers just need to click on the ‘Chat now’ green icon, and provide some basic details like email and phone number, to start the chat. Once the seller replies, the buyer will be notified. If the seller is available, the conversation can happen immediately.

I think chatting is a good option mainly for the anonymity it provides. While evaluating products, when we ourselves have not decided on whether we want to buy a particular product or not, it’s easier and safer not to give our mobile/email address to sellers whom we don’t know.

Also, this will enable the buyer to evaluate the seller. If the seller has enabled the chat option, it means he/she is active on the site and are eager to do business. If they reply immediately, or even if they reply late, but reply with all the necessary details, that also means they are proactive and are interested to do business.

It’s important to evaluate sellers, especially when they are unknown people. Their response to our questions or requests determines how they will respond when we meet them, and if they will respond at all! I think chat is useful to determine the sellers who are active and take that extra step to ensure good/timely communication with customers, which is critical for customer satisfaction.

Having bought a few items from Quikr, I know how useful this feature can be. Besides, a phone call costs money and chat doesn’t cost a single rupee. If you want to evaluate many sellers, chat/email option might be a money saving proposition, in addition to saving time.

Go ahead, hop on to Quikr and try the chat feature today 🙂

Destination Infinity

Disclaimer: This post has been written for indiBlogger Happy Hour contest sponsored by Quikr.