New Delhi: Walmart-owned Flipkart Saturday said it will host its annual ‘The Big Billion Days’ sale from October 16-21.
The six-day event will focus on delivering its promise of a wide range of products with great value propositions to existing and new consumers, while providing growth opportunities to MSMEs and sellers across the country, a statement said.
Flipkart rival, Amazon.in is expected to announce its sale dates next week. Value-focussed e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal will hold its first sale in mid-October to coincide with Navratri festivities. Its next two sales will run in late October and early November.
E-commerce companies see a large chunk of their business coming in during the festive sales and they make significant investments ahead of time to ramp up their capacity to be able to handle the spike in orders. Festive season sees players holding multiple sale events, timed around Dussehra and Diwali.
Electronics, fashion and home furnishing are some of the categories that see a huge demand during the festive season.
A report by RedSeer estimates that festive sales this year are expected to almost double and touch USD 7 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) as compared to USD 3.8 billion in the same period last year.
Flipkart said it has enabled new and convenient payment offerings on its platform to pave the way for an inclusive and consumer-centric shopping experience.
It will make available no-cost EMIs through offers from Bajaj Finserv EMI cars and other bank credit and debit cards, while its partnership with Paytm will offer consumers assured cashback, it added.
“This year, the sale-event will create over 70,000 direct and lakhs of indirect seasonal jobs as sellers, artisans, and brands gear up to fulfil consumer demand. Flipkart has enabled thousands of new sellers to join its platform in the last six months while hand-holding them through their e-commerce journey,” it said.
These include efforts such as free business incubation support for a limited period, insights in matters of product cataloguing, advertising and speed.
In addition, the company has hosted several virtual learning and development events to understand and gain insights into the best practices to attain maximum benefits of e-commerce during the festive season.
“This festive event continues to focus on Flipkart’s commitment to provide value for consumers, opportunities for growth for MSMEs and sellers, and employment generation through e-commerce,” Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said.
Through strong partnerships with brands and sellers, Flipkart has tapped into the power of interconnected businesses and technology to bring consumers a wide range of products at great prices at their doorsteps this festive season, he added.
Flipkart is also working with celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Virat Kohli, Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, Sudeep Kiccha, and Mahesh Babu, who will be seen in creative avatars as they engage with ‘The Big Billion Days’ event.
PTI