Flipkart's Big Billion Days vs Snapdeal: Advertising wars

Flipkart and Snapdeal, the top two e-tailers of the country, are trying to outdo each other and not just via festive sales. The e-commerce companies are now targeting each other through ads and on social media.

After a friendly Twitter exchange between chief product officers of the two companies on Monday, things hotted up on Tuesday morning.

Even as the buzz was about Flipkart 's Big Billion Days sale, Snapdeal tried to steal the show by taking pot shots at Flipkart and Amazon in an advertisement published in The Times of India newspaper. The e-commerce company also sent a push notification to its app users with the same message.

The ad said, "You don't need a billion offers to amaze you. You just need to snap the best ones. For the best offers this Diwali shop only on Snapdeal."

 

This reminds me that the Big Billion day begins today. So Flipkart should thank Snapdeal for advt on thr behalf pic.twitter.com/TcC79Si2OT

- Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) October 13, 2015

 

 

What's more interesting, it managed to place this full-page advertisement between the ads of Flipkart and Amazon.

 

Snapdeal also ran a campaign on social media saying #CheckSnapdealToday and introduced discounts in several categories, including up to 80 per cent discount for the fashion category same as Flipkart and Myntra.

On its part, Flipkart too took to social media and hit back at Amazon and Snapdeal by tweeting, "Only Flipkart gives 10 per cent instant discount. Why wait for cashback till 2016 from others?"

Amazon, whose Great Indian Festive Sale coincides with Big Billion Days sale, is offering a 15 per cent cash back on shopping via its app and a 10 per cent for its site. Snapdeal is offering a 10 per cent cash back on Yes Bank and Standard Chartered cards.

Snapdeal kick-started its festive offering on Monday with 'Electronics Monday' sale, and will bring a set of mega deals for consumers every Monday across different categories till Diwali.

This is not the first time that India's leading e-commerce companies have waged an advertising battle.

Earlier in the year, Flipkart had launched an ad campaign for its upcoming 'BigAppShoppingDays' sale. These ads in print, outdoor and social media were supposed to create a buzz about its sale day and said 'Nahin Khareeda? #AchhaKiya'.

 

interesting fight between @Flipkart and @snapdeal pic.twitter.com/6nCa83x5FA

- Tajinder Pal S Bagga (@tajinderbagga) June 18, 2015

Snapdeal later launched an ad campaign targeting the Flipkart ad, which said, "Achha kiya bata diya. #YahanSeKharido", and placed billboards and hoardings of its ad just beside Flipkart's, making an interesting combination.

The days ahead could see more such clashes, as the festive season is a huge opportunity for the e-commerce companies and each of them wants to tap into as much consumer spending as possible.

According to an Assocham study, consumers are expected to splurge about $8 billion on online shopping this festive season, translating into 40-45 per cent sales increase for e-commerce players.