Flipkart, Amazon flagship sales to be bigger this year; sales expected to cross Rs 9,500 crore

After demonetisation punctured their hopes last year, e-commerce giants are eyeing the festive season prize this time, and it is expected to be good. Analysts have predicted unprecedented growth in sales in next few months as buyers prepare to shell some cash to mark the festivities after a lackadaisical festive season last year.

A report by The Economic Times claims that the cumulative gross sales registered by Amazon and Flipkart during their flagship sales this year will be in the vicinity of $1.5 billion. The festive season, the time these flagship sales are kicked-off, is also arriving before time in September, as opposed to October last year.

The report stated that Flipkart is planning a Big Billion Days sale in mid-September, quoting vendors associated with the e-tailer. It was also mentioned that Amazon is going to hold its Great Indian Festival Sale in the same timeframe.

None of the two online commerce companies have confirmed the dates for their flagship sales, though.

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"This year, we expect the combined Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) to grow from $900 million to $1.2-1.5 billion (Rs 7,657-9,561 crore) during the Big Billion Days sale by Flipkart and Great Indian Festival sale by Amazon," said Satish Meena, senior forecast analyst at Indian wing of Forrester India.

A Forrester India report released in June, The State of India's Online Retail Market in 2017', mentioned that the joint GMV from festive season sales of Flipkart and Amazon in 2016 was at $900 million (Rs 5,739 crore). Flipkart's share in the sales was $500 million (Rs 3,188 crore), whereas Amazon reached a GMV of $400 million (Rs 2,552 million).

The cumulative GMV of these two companies stood at $300 million (Rs 1,914 crore) in 2015. The increase in revenue was directly related to the increase in days of sale, which were extended to five days in 2016 as opposed to three days in 2015.

Apart from their annual flagship sale events, Amazon will open a smaller Great Indian Sale, starting from August 9 to 12, which Flipkart following suit, the report said. These smaller sales have not been confirmed by the two companies either.

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These sales are expected to be a shot in the arm for the online commerce sector in India which was badly hit by demonetisation in November last year, almost in the middle of the festive season, with bad times carrying forward to recent times with disruption caused by rollout of Goods and Services Tax, the report said.

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