E-commerce platforms launch festive sales from today: Here's all you need to know

New Delhi: It is time again to loosen your purse strings! With attractive deals and huge discounts across various categories on offer, almost all major e-commerce platforms are geared up to commence their sales for the festive season.

While e-commerce giant Flipkart and the online retail platforms it owns -- Jabong and Myntra -- will start with their five-day-long "Big Billion Days" sales from September 20, Amazon India`s "Great Indian Festival" will begin exclusively for its "Prime" customers on the same day at 12 p.m.

However, the festival sale for all customers of Amazon India will be from September 21 to 24.

"For the first time ever, the Great Indian Festival will start early at 12 noon on September 20 only for `Prime` members," Manish Tiwary, Vice President, Category Management, Amazon India, told IANS.

"We expect more customers to join the digital ecosystem and shop with us during this festive season. With expanded selection and a robust logistical support system, we are ready to handle the massive customer traffic that we are bound to receive this season," Tiwary added.

Amazon India will offer deals across several categories, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, large appliances, baby products, clothing and accessories, beauty products, home and kitchen products, furniture and stationery products.

Swati Bhargava, co-founder of CashKaro, said: "What is interesting this time is that earlier, very often it used to be only Flipkart and Amazon trying to announce sales. This time, all the main six to seven e-commerce retailers, like Jabong, Shopclues and Myntra, Paytm Mall... are doing sales on the same day."

CashKaro, partner to more than 1,500 e-commerce sites, provides its members with cashback offers on their online shopping at various sites like Flipkart, Amazon.in, Paytm, Shopclues and Jabong.

"Typically, we see about a 300 percent increase in our GMV (gross merchandise volume) which goes through CashKaro during the festive season. Even in September, if we were to compare with the numbers of August, I am sure we will see at least a 300 percent increment," Bhargava told IANS.

She added: "We will probably be driving over Rs 100 crore of sales in this month alone to all our partner retailers."

In online retailing, GMV indicates a total sales dollar value for merchandise sold through a particular marketplace over a certain time frame.

"Also, this time, it is not `start of the month` sale, it is mid-month. There will be a little bit of cash crunch also, which is why this is a good time to bring in cards and EMI offers," Bhargava added.

Online marketplace ShopClues` "Maha Bharat Diwali Sale", which will run from September 20 to 28, will offer a wide range of products with discounts ranging from 50-80 percent off across the home and kitchen, electronics and accessories, and fashion and lifestyle categories.

"ShopClues aims to achieve 75 percent plus growth in business over September-October," said Radhika Aggarwal, Co-Founder and CBO, ShopClues.

"We have also ramped up our associations with top banks, portals and e-wallets, to enable a seamless and delightful shopping experience for our customers during this Diwali," she added.

In line with the e-commerce giants, Paytm Mall, owned by Paytm Ecommerce, will also launch its first ever festive season sale -- "Mera Cashback Sale" -- from September 20 to 23.

"This is our first festive season sale and we are expecting 5-6 million new customers on our platform during the four-day sale," said a Paytm Mall spokesperson.

While the full-on sales are slated to start from Wednesday, some other e-commerce sites such as LimeRoad have their festive sales ongoing.

"LimeRoad introduced `The Festive Love Affair`, a collection featuring an array of handpicked kurtas, sarees, suits, heritage jewellery, traditional home décor and a lot more... It is live from September 15 to 26 and caters to both budget buyers and luxury shoppers," said Suchi Mukherjee, Founder and CEO of LimeRoad.

Mukherjee told IANS that approximately 30 percent of the total revenue inflow is seen during the festive months.

Flipkart will also run its "Flipkart For India" campaign as part of the sales offer during which it will ship festive gift hampers to the families of army martyrs, and current personnel of the army, Border Security Force and the Central Reserve Police Force, posted in hostile locations away from home.

"The specially-packaged boxes, numbering a few hundred, will contain an assortment of dry fruits and a gift voucher worth Rs 10,000 that can be used to shop on Flipkart," the company said in a statement.