Extended festive season with mega Flipkart and Amazon sales
It's an extended festive season this year, both at home and at stores. Ganesh Chaturthi is arriving at the end of this month, two weeks earlier than 2016, and so is the online sale extravaganza. Amazon and Flipkart have planned smaller events in August itself to welcome the festive season sale that will peak during Diwali in October and last till Christmas in December.
Before the mega sale, some smaller sales
From August 9-12, Amazon will host its Great Indian Sale on a smaller level, paving the way for its flagship Great Indian Festival sale in September. Flipkart too is planning a similar minor sale this month, and then will move on to Big Billion Days around mid-September. There is no official confirmation on the dates of either Amazon or Flipkart's mega sale though.
What should you look out for?
The top priority segments for both ecommerce sites are expected to be smartphones, fashion and home appliances, analysts say. "Top categories customers love to shop for include smartphones, fashion, appliances, consumer electronics and TV, followed by FMCG," confirmed Manish Tiwary, category management vice-president, Amazon India. Meanwhile, Flipkart will have offers "across 1,000+ product categories for all customer segments", said senior director Smrithi Ravichandran.
GMV, number of shipments expected to rise this year
Expectations are high this year for both companies. According to Forrester Research, combined Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) for the two mega sales is expected to touch $1.2-1.5bn from $900mn in 2016. In 2015, it was $300mn. Logistics companies have predicted number of shipments will increase three times. However, India's online retail market grew 33.7% in 2016 - drastically slower than the previous year's 114.4%.
