Amazon India has announced that its festive season sale - The Great Indian Festival' (GIF) 2021 - will start on October 4. This event will witness the launch of over 1,000 new product and offers across categories including grocery, fashion and beauty, smartphones, large appliances and TVs, consumer electronics, etc.
Furthering its commitment to support Small Medium Businesses (SMBs), the e-commerce giant has stated that Amazon GIF 2021 is dedicated to 8.5 lakh small sellers including over 75,000 local shops from 450 cities.
GIF 2021 will also showcase products from Amazon sellers under various other programs such as Amazon Launchpad, Amazon Saheli, Amazon Karigar, as well as top Indian and global brands across categories.
In an official statement, Amazon India explained that according to a survey commissioned by it and conducted by Nielson, sellers on Amazon.in are optimistic about this festive season and 98% of the surveyed sellers said that technology adoption and e-commerce have positively impacted their business.
More than 78% of the surveyed Amazon sellers expect to reach out to new customers, 71% mentioned an increase in their sales and 71% mentioned a recovery in their business as their top expectations from the festive season.
Commenting on the announcement, Manish Tiwary, Vice President, Amazon India said, "This year's Great Indian Festival is a celebration of the resilience of local shop owners and small and medium sellers. We are humbled by their spirit and delighted with the opportunity to partner and enable their growth, especially in view of recent challenges owing to the pandemic".
To prepare for GIF 2021, Amazon India has created more than 110,000 seasonal job opportunities across its operations network. The company has expanded its fulfilment network by increasing its storage capacity by 40% with more than 60 fulfilment centres in 15 states offering 43 million cubic feet to its sellers.
Amazon India has also ramped up its delivery infrastructure and has close to 1,700 Amazon-owned and partner delivery stations, close to 28,000 'I Have Space' partners and thousands of Amazon Flex delivery partners, as per the firm's statement.
Also read: Amazon says it takes allegations of improper actions seriously, investigate them fully Also read: Challenge for banks as outsiders Amazon, IKEA crack the finance code