Top 2 online platforms that mostly get involved during festivals and what was

Throughout the COVID-19 period, there has been a high spike craze for online shopping around the globe, and when the festival season approaches, online promotions are pitched highly to catch the attention of the customers.

The festival season is always eagerly awaited by retailers to make maximum sales and get maximum profits over a large number of products. Naturally, customers await heavy discounts, but what truly gets their attention is when retailers truly exceed their expectations through customized, personalized orders and precise deliveries. As Diwali is one of the major festivals of India, it always comes with a shopping spree- “a festival to purchase.” Various online platforms plan their ecommerce marketing strategies to organize maximum sales for maximum profit. 

During festivals, the ecommerce giants take initiatives very seriously. Advertisements are often flooded over the internet, newspaper, and television about Amazon’s Great Indian Festival and Flipkart’s Big Billion Days. Along with these sales, a large crowd awaits these sales to arrive for the whole year. As a result, there is a high increment in the numbers of transacting retailers during the sale season, and the number of orders placed is nearly doubled. Moreover, it is often observed that during festivals, people often buy specific things, or communities as per the season or occasion. For example, During Raksha Bandhan, It is observed that people purchase either rakhis or gifts as per customized needs. 

Both Flipkart and Amazon expect to break their early Diwali records, and their respective sales always help in determining the future of Ecommerce marketing strategy. So let us analyze the arena of Amazon and Flipkart sales to get a comprehensive understanding.

Comprehensive output after-sale season

AMAZON –

Amazon Great Indian Festival 2021 comes with thousands of deals across all major product categories and promises great prices on popular mobile phones, electronics, and other products. Amazon India experienced high growth in the Great Indian Festival and broke last year’s records already. So far, the platform has recorded the highest number of first-time shoppers, saw a 50% increase in new sellers, and witnessed the strongest-ever start for SMBs. 91% of its first-time shoppers were from smaller cities who browsed the app in local Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. The number of iPhones sold on Amazon in one day was almost more than the total iPhones sold in the entire festival sale period of last year, and that’s why the sale of 2021 has also helped Amazon in accelerating growth across its portfolio. Over 2 lakh customers bought Amazon devices, Fire and Echo TV devices. Kindle sales were around 2.5X higher than the first day of the sale when compared with last year. There was the availability of over 4 crore products from Small & Medium Businesses products and over 20,000 local shops across 100 cities during the Great Indian Festival. Customers across the globe grabbed the opportunity to shop for unique products from thousands of Amazon sellers under various programs such as Amazon Launchpad, Amazon Saheli, Local Shops, and Amazon Karigar. Therefore, these deals extended happiness and enjoyment to numerous small businesses.

This year witnessed the strongest record sales for small and big businesses as over 5,000 sellers sold sales worth INR 1MM (10 lakh) in SMB pre-festive lead up & the first 48 hours of the Great Indian Festival. During these unprecedented times, over 1.1 Lakh sellers, brands, and ecosystem partners receiving nationwide have come together to spread joy across the country.

FLIPKART –

The Big Billion Days 2021, driven by purchases of a wide range of products and the most popular purchases throughout the Big Billion Days so far, are across lifestyle, electronics, books and general merchandise, home, and mobiles phones. The number of premium smartphones sold during the Big Billion Days has doubled from The Big Billion Days’ (TBBD) 2020. 41.78% of premium smartphones were purchased by customers during this sale in 3 cities only. Every 1 out of 5 smartphones sold in this sale was 5G-enabled. Customers purchased lifestyle products from over 44,000 unique brands, reflecting a positive sentiment for upgrading fashion wardrobes and stepping out in the market. While purchasing large appliances, all customers opted for an affordability payment construct. Smartwatches and fitness bands saw a 100% jump from last year in the consumer electronics segment, marking a clear shift towards smart wearables. Consumers from across the country shopped for their daily requirements online, leading to the growing needs for grocery and hyperlocal segments. Gardening is becoming one of the fascinating hobbies, especially Gardening tools, which has seen a sharp rise in purchasing interest. The Home Improvement category grew by about 80% year on year, and work from home also acted as a catalyst to boost demand for furniture and mattresses in this sale of TBBD.

Brand Name
Sale Name	Amazon’s Great Indian Festival	Flipkart’s Big Billion Days
Premium	Amazon Prime Prime members get 24 hours early access to all the deals and discounts.	Flipkart Plus+ Plus members will get 1-day Early Access to Big Billion Days sale
Offers	No-Cost EMI options on credit/debit cards of different banks, Bajaj Finserv, and Amazon  Pay Later.	Assured cashback to purchase made using Paytm Wallet and Paytm bank account
Deals over products	SmartphonesLED TVsShoesHome furnishingsElectronicsFashion	SmartphonesLED TVsShoesHome furnishingsElectronicsFashion