The second Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF), which made its debut last year, will be held for 72 hours starting from December 11. Hosted by
Google India, the second edition of the mega online shopping festival aims to bring leading eCommerce players in India on a common platform to provide best deals online. Last year, it was only for a day, December 12, 2012.
Nitin Bawankule, industry director, eCommerce, Google India, said GOSF aims to bring in more consumers online and it will also create awareness for online shopping. "Last year, 50 per cent of the consumers shopped for the first time online. We had got one million unique hits on www.gosf.in in 2012."
After getting a tremendous response last year,
Google this time has roped in 240 major players in e-commerce, local, classified and online travel sites offering their best deals across India this year. Many original equipment manufacturers such as Dell, Lenevo and HP, are among the new brands that registered this year.
The number of merchants was just 85 to 90 last year. "We continue to see a very healthy growth in online searches for online shopping, with over 40 per cent queries coming from mobile phones. We have extended the festival to three days to cater to the growing demand and hope to attract first-time buyers. The e-commerce players too have expanded their existing brand portfolio across categories," adds Bawankule.
In the West, prior to Thanksgiving, the concept of one-day online sales is a big hit. However, it is gaining traction in India now as e-commerce is gaining acceptance. Rajan Anandan, Vice President and Managing Director, Google India, says: "GOSF is India's version of cyber Monday in the West and is an exciting platform to raise awareness and consumer acceptance of online shopping in India. More and more people are opting to shop online and fueling the growth of both large multinational and homegrown companies. Industry estimates suggest that there are close to 20 million online shoppers in India and it is estimated to grow into a $16-billion industry in the coming years."
Sandeep Sharma, Co-founder, COO and CTO, eCommerce player Yepme.com, says the festival will set the expectations of users right with great deals. "We are expecting a 30 to 40 per cent jump in our web traffic this year at GOSF. With new brands becoming available online, GOSF will attract a traffic that is only visible during the Diwali season or the wedding season."
Airtel, Intel and Paytm are the partners for the initiative.
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