Festive sales begin this month: Flipkart announces Big Billion Days, Amazon might follow suit soon

The festive season is here and e-commerce platforms are back with their flagship sales. This year, however, e-tailers are also looking to cross previous sales levels after a tepid festive season last year on account of demonetisation. The first salvo has already been fired by Flipkart, which has announced its flagship sale Big Billion Days starting from September 20 to 24.

The biggest e-commerce player in the country has stated that it will bring a billion Indians together with its Big Billion Days sales and set the tone for the festive season. Apart from this, Flipkart has also has a more result-oriented goal in mind - triple the sales they saw in their last flagship sale and posting gross merchandise value of $1.5 billion (more than Rs 9,500 crore), said a report by The Economic Times.

Flipkart reached gross merchandise value of $500 million (around Rs 5,740 crore) last year, according to a report Forrester India. The report also mentioned that Flipkart's competitor Amazon India posted gross merchandise value of $400 million (Rs 3,190 crore) in 2016. The market research firm went on to say in its report that these two online shopping firms will post cumulative sales to the tune of $1.5 billion with their flagship sales in 2017, as opposed to $900 million seen previous year.

Amazon is, reportedly, going to launch its flagship sale Great Indian Festival Sale around the same time as Flipkart's Big Billion Days. Notably, the festive season this year begins from September as opposed to October last year, bringing the flagship sales from two online shopping giants one month earlier this month. Although Amazon India has not confirmed the dates for its festive sales, it is likely to end its festival sale one day before or after that of Flipkart, reports said quoting industry executives.

During its five-day long Big Billion Days, Flipkart is offering discounts up to 90 per cent across 80 and more categories, underpinned by "exclusive partnerships with leading brands". On the first day offer will be extended on fashion, accessories, small and large appliances, home furnishing along with other categories. From second day onwards, the sale will include smartphones and feature phones, tablets, laptops, cameras, peripherals and more.

The Big Billion Days sale will also include premium merchandise from several categories. Smartphones, including recent flagships, like Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, iPhone 7 and 7 Plus and others are expected to be available at cheap prices. Similar offers are expected to be offered on premium collections of electronic devices, daily appliances, fashion, jewellery and home furnishing.