With the goal of providing effective and easy solutions for health enthusiasts, HealthKart was founded in March of 2011. Since then, they have built themselves up to be India’s largest provider of a range of genuine health products across all major brands and categories. They are where Indians go when they want a good deal online for the health items they need.
I am an online shopping buff. I do not like to frequent the busy markets which reward you for going out with inferior goods at less affordable prices. So, I stay home and have my purchases come to me. I have been doing this since before the meteoric rise in popularity of online shopping in India.
All that said, I was excited to give HealthKart a try, since I had heard so much about it. Here is my review of my experiences based on ordering from HealthKart several times.
About HealthKart
Bringing in strong skills in operations, healthcare, customer management, and technology with experience in the United States and India, HealthKart employs and is run by a core team of highly qualified professionals with degrees from Stanford, Harvard, and IIT.
As they head toward the goal of becoming India’s online health mega store, they have grown to a staff of more than a hundred employees from their humble beginnings with just four workers. Via email, phone, and live chat, HealthKart helps its customers choose the right services or products with the trained counselors, product experts, and nutritionists they have available.
They are also backed by Omidiyar Network, Kaw Capital, and Sequoia Capital, some of the most prestigious investors in the world. HealthKart searches the world over for the best wellness and health products, then via online shopping, they make them available for all of India.
Their offerings cover categories like parenting, personal care, home devices, fitness and sports, health services, beauty, eye, diabetes, and nutrition. To make sure they deliver 100 percent genuine products and to maintain strict quality control, HealthKart partners directly with brands and their authorized channels.
To give India a massive wellness and health boost, HealthKart strives to combine smart design, awesome customer care, and state of the art technology. Their vision is to become a household name synonymous with reliability in India by giving customers access to authentic health items at great prices.
Top Products and Features of HealthKart
The first aspect of HealthKart.com that should be mentioned is how easy to navigate and well-designed it is. The home page is designed much like the other top online retail sites: there is a list of categories along the left column. As you hover over these categories, you are given an extensive list of subcategories, so you can literally get where you want with one click.
As you scroll down the home page, you are shown the bestsellers for some of the categories. I think this is really smart because odds are shoppers will be looking for the bestsellers (hence the label “bestseller.”)
The interface has a number of unique features including a Daily Deals section, customer feedback, and live chat with HealthKart personnel for health related product recommendations.
For the purposes of this review, I made five different orders over the course of a month. Four of the orders arrived within two days of ordering them. One took three days. To me, that is blazing fast. In addition, the items reached me in perfect condition, and they were securely wrapped. I was also kept informed of where my package was during every step of the process.
HealthKart states that they can deliver to major metro areas within two to three working days. For other cities, it may take up to five days. And for remote areas, it may take up to seven business days or more for orders to arrive. They currently do not ship to anywhere outside of India.
There is a fourteen day return policy on HealthKart.com. That means that within fourteen days of receiving your goods, you can return all items. They will reverse the payment if you paid with a card. Or, they will issue a cheque in the registered name of the customer if bank deposit or cash on delivery payment methods were used. They even give you store credits as refund for shipping charges.
HealthKart Prices
As far as pricing goes, you would be hard pressed to find better deals on the web. On their regularly priced items, I found that HealthKart regularly beat the competition by as much as 100 to 1000 rupees or more.
If you do not need the newest, latest items, the Clearance section has up to 90 percent off items that are overstocked or are just being discontinued. I was able to get some top quality sunglasses for 87 percent off.
For orders above Rs 499, HealthKart delivers the items to your doorstep for free. Also, at the time of the delivery, there is no additional shipping charge that you have to pay, and they bear all Octroi/sales tax. A minimal shipping charge of Rs 50 is applied to any order that is less than Rs 500.
Criticism of HealthKart
The only problem I noticed was that some of the image links appeared to be broken when I browsed through the products. I checked, and it was not an issue with my computer. Fortunately, the images I was unable to view were not for anything that I was looking to purchase, but it was still a concern nonetheless.
I read a bunch of reviews about HealthKart to see what others were saying about them. For the most part, people loved their experiences. The biggest complaints had to do with delivery charges. Some users were upset that their order did not qualify for free shipping because it was under Rs 500. In my experience, that is a pretty low requirement for free shipping.
There were other complaints about how there was a Rs 30 charge for the cash on delivery service if your order totals less than Rs 500. Again, this seems like a fairly small charge.
Customer Support
HealthKart has an extensive Frequently Asked Questions section for any problems you may have. If you are unable to find your answer there, you can fill out a contact form. And, if that does not interest you, you can email or call them. Their call center is open 9 am to 12 am Monday to Saturday and 10 am to 7 pm on Sunday.
I called about five minutes before closing on a Saturday night just to see if they really were available until closing time. Come to find out, they were! I was greeted by a friendly and knowledgeable customer service representative. She did not seem like she was in a rush to get out the door. She patiently answered my question and made sure I was completely satisfied before hanging up.
Final Thoughts
HealthKart.com has only been around for a little over three years now, yet they are already cornering the market when it comes to buying healthcare products over the internet. You will likely hear a lot more about them in the near future because they are likely only going to grow in popularity thanks to their commitment to satisfying their customers.
I highly recommend HealthKart to any Indians looking for health products. Their prices are hard to beat, they deliver quickly and affordably, they take security seriously, and the shopping experience is seamless. If you are tired of battling the brick and mortar retailers, visit HealthKart.com now.
