Flipkart Claims It’s Still Numero Uno
How did the big three fare in this round of festive season sales?
E-commerce company Flipkart said it outsold rival Amazon by the end of this round of the festive season sale.
Flipkart said in a statement that the company registered 70 percent higher sales than last year by selling 15.5 million units across the group (Flipkart, Myntra, and Jabong). Amazon, a day earlier, had said its Indian business trebled as the Jeff Bezos-led company saw 15 million units being purchased in its five-day sale. Snapdeal on Thursday said it had sold over 11 million products during the sale. The big three companies had cited various figures in media statements to showcase their success in the flagship sale.
Flipkart Big Billion Day Sale
Flipkart did not state the gross sales at the end of the 5-day sale in its media statement, but claimed a “historic” Rs 1,400 crore sales on October 3 – the day the Big Billion Day sale kicked off. The top grossing segments for the company were smartphones, television sets and apparel.
It also took a dig at Amazon which said, in its media statement, that its highest-selling product in this round of the festive season sale was Prime subscription, and groceries.
Total units sold include only physical goods and does not include virtual membership and low-cost goods like churan, hing, candy, detergent bars, and eggs!Binny Bansal, Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart
Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale
Amazon said its highest-selling product during the sale event was the annual Prime subscription service. One out of every three shipment during the sale was a Prime shipment, Amazon said in its statement. Amazon offers free one and two-day delivery and early access to its exclusive offers to customers subscribing to this service for an initial fixed price of Rs 499. Prime subscribers also get early access to products in the Lightning Deals category every day. Amazon launched the service in India in July this year.
Its unit sales of 15 million was three times higher than last year’s Diwali sale, and came from 90 percent of all pin codes in the country during its five-day sale.
New customer additions grew three times this year, out of which 70 percent came from Tier-II and Tier-III cities. “The Great Indian Festival saw a 30 times increase in orders from Tier-III and below geographies as compared to last year,” Amazon said.
For Amazon too, mobile phones, large appliances live television sets and apparel were the top grossers.
Snapdeal Unbox Diwali Sale
Home-grown e-commerce major Snapdeal, run by Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd. sold more than 11 million units in the last five days led by the fashion, home and electronics categories, according to the Gurgaon-based company’s media statement.
It saw a four-fold increase in the number of users for its Unbox Diwali sale compared to last year. “The traffic from Tier II-Tier III cities increased 20 times across the country driven by high brand recall, availability of relevant assortment and consistently fast deliveries,” Kunal Bahl, co-founder and chief executive officer of Snapdeal said in the statement.
Snapdeal started its sale from October 2 and ended it on October 5.
Following The Leader
The newer e-commerce companies too sought to make their presence felt this festive season. Two companies in particular, Shopcues and TataCliq said they kept the sale on for longer compared to the big three and offered discounts in the same segments as Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal, including consumer electronics, ethnic wear, mobile phones and kitchen appliances.
Shopclues’ sale is on from October 1-10 and it will run another sale during Diwali, while TataCliq will keep its sale on for the rest of the month.
TataCliq Festober Flash
The Tata Group e-commerce website TataCliq, said in a media statement that it witnessed a three times rise in revenue during the sale event compared to the previous month and has seen 80 percent of its orders come from new consumers.
"Our sales are across segments with emphasis on electronics, personal gadgets, cameras, mobile phones and ethnic wear," Pratyusha Agarwal, head-marketing at TataCliq said in the statement.
Shopclues Diwali Sale
Shopclues has focused on targeting consumers in the Tier-II and Tier-III cities, according to a company statement. The e-commerce company claimed it’s seen good demand for entry-level products and has offered a variety of products at lower price points compared to the big three.
“In the apparel segment, our start point is Rs 99, while in mobile phones we have a variety in the Rs 5,000 segment. We have also seen more demand for LED televisions in the Rs 15,000-20,000 range,” said Nitin Agarwal, AVP and head of marketing at ShopClues.