Goutam Das
Cyber Monday, the Monday that follows the Thanksgiving weekend in the United States, is a big day for the country's retailers and is keenly watched by analysts. Typically, there is a
sharp increase in e-commerce sales that day, which serves as an indication of consumer confidence.
There is no such day in India, but Google plans to introduce something similar in the country on December 12, to spruce up online sales and lure first-time online buyers.
Instead of Cyber Monday, it will called the
'Great Online Shopping Festival' .
Google has tied up with local e-commerce sites such as Flipkart and Snapdeal, who will offer deep discounts that day. The buzz created by the company is likely to result in a jump in online traffic to many of
India's e-commerce sites.
Indeed, people may buy more books, travel products, jewellery and apparel, among other things, on December 12. But it remains to be seen if they will return to buy more when there are no discounts.
In India, unlike in many countries, e-commerce has
always been equated with cheaper prices and not with the convenience of shopping from home.
Sooner or later,
Indian e-commerce companies , who are now losing money on almost every deal because of discounts and costly delivery mechanisms, will need to convince consumers to pay the same prices they would in the offline retail world.
Not easy, that.
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