Flipkart Diagnostic
+ Apple MRI
Refurbished devices on Flipkart had a trust problem. Apple had the fix. The challenge was making it work for a store owner in Patna who's never heard of MRI.
The problem
When a buyer lands on a refurbished iPhone listing, they're reading a paragraph someone typed. No standard. No verification.
Condition descriptions ranged from meticulous to wildly optimistic — and buyers knew it. Return rates were high, disputes were frequent, and the refurbished category had a credibility ceiling it couldn't break through. The business wanted to grow refurbished. Trust was the blocker.
What we built
Apple MRI is Apple's own hardware diagnostic — it runs a battery of tests on iPhones and iPads and returns a standardised condition report. Flipkart got access. Our job was to integrate it into the seller listing flow in a way that non-technical sellers and third-party surveyors could actually use.
We also brought in Yaantra as a parallel diagnostic for Android devices — building both tools into a unified flow so sellers have the same verified listing experience regardless of what device they're selling.
Two very different users, one flow
The Refurbished Seller
Small shop owner · 30–50 devices/monthLists devices on Flipkart daily. Not technically trained. Doesn't know what IMEI stands for. Needs the whole diagnostic done — ideally while they're at the counter handling another sale.
"Just tell me what to press and when it's done."
The Surveyor
Certified field technicianTravels to sellers to run the actual diagnostic. Semi-technical. Juggles multiple appointments. Has seen every edge case — wrong device, wrong iOS version, dead battery, dual SIM confusion.
"I need to know exactly what to do when something breaks mid-diagnostic."
The flow
Six steps — most handled by the surveyor, initiated by the seller.
Design decisions
Six phases. Each one had its own set of problems.
Surveyor selection Seller
Sellers had to pick someone from a list of certified surveyors — but the list had no context. No availability, no distance, no rating. They were picking names blind, scheduling back and forth over WhatsApp, and diagnostic sessions were frequently falling through.
We surfaced availability windows, distance, and a rating directly on the selection card. Added a "nearest available" default that could be overridden. Selection time dropped from an average 4 minutes to under 60 seconds.
Tier 2 problem
Spotty connectivity meant the surveyor list sometimes wouldn't load. We pre-fetch and cache surveyor data so the screen works on a weak connection — no spinner, no dead end.
IMEI validation Surveyor
We discovered sellers were sometimes running diagnostics on a different device than the one listed. The report ended up attached to the wrong listing. Buyers were receiving devices that didn't match their verified report.
Camera scan at the start of every session. IMEI cross-referenced against the listing in real time. If it doesn't match, you can't proceed.
Manual fallback
Worn IMEI labels are common in second-hand devices. Manual entry reduced drop-off at this step by 18%.
Dual-SIM edge case
Dual-SIM phones have two IMEIs. We prompt the surveyor to select the primary slot — something we missed entirely in V1.
Apple MRI installation Surveyor
Apple MRI doesn't live on the device. It's installed each time via a provisioning profile — a 6-step process involving Settings, Safari, and a trust prompt. Surveyors were getting stuck at step 3 or 4 with no guidance and no one to call.
We built a screen-by-screen guide inside the Flipkart app that mirrors what's happening on the device being tested. Progress indicator, estimated time remaining. The surveyor always knows where they are.
Biggest support ticket, fixed
iOS version incompatibility was the #1 reason diagnostics failed. We now check the device's iOS version before starting — and surface a clear, actionable message if it's unsupported, rather than letting the install silently fail three steps in.
Reading the results Both
Apple MRI returns a detailed technical report — battery cycle count, sensor pass/fail states, component health percentages. Valuable data. Completely unreadable to the average seller.
We mapped every MRI output to Flipkart's existing condition taxonomy: Like New / Good / Fair / Poor. Sellers see a plain-language summary alongside the raw data. Each failing component gets a brief explanation in English, not tech speak.
The unexpected winner
We added a one-tap "Share to WhatsApp" export almost as an afterthought. It became the most-used feature on the results screen. Sellers were sending the report to buyers before the device even shipped.
Yaantra Android / Fallback
Apple MRI only runs on Apple devices. A significant chunk of Flipkart's refurbished listings are Android. We integrated Yaantra — a third-party diagnostic tool — using the same guided install flow, the same results mapping, and the same report format as Apple MRI. Sellers see an identical experience regardless of platform. The backend is different. The seller doesn't need to know that.
Getting sellers to actually opt in Discovery
The diagnostic was optional. When it was buried at step 7 of the listing flow, barely anyone opted in. The feature existed but it was invisible. We ran an A/B test across three entry point variants: inline prompt mid-flow, full interstitial, and a bottom sheet at the very start of listing creation.
opt-in lift — bottom sheet at listing start vs. mid-flow inline prompt
Framing mattered too. "Add a Verified badge to your listing" outperformed "Run a device diagnostic" by a significant margin. Same action, completely different story.
90 days post-launch
12,000 devices diagnosed. Returns dropped. Sellers stopped losing disputes.
Return rate on verified listings
Buyers who purchased a diagnostics-verified device returned it less — because what they received matched what was promised.
Conversion vs. unverified listings
Verified listings converted at more than four times the rate of unverified ones in the same category.
Condition-related support tickets
When buyers have a machine-generated report, there's a lot less to argue about.
Seller NPS
Sellers using diagnostics reported fewer disputes and faster resolution when issues did arise.
"The verified badge changed everything. Buyers stopped haggling over condition. My return rate dropped in the first month — I wish we had this from day one."Seller · Delhi · Refurbished iPhones