The fireworks have started way before Diwali, as the big three in Indian e-tailing — Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal — tried to outdo each other by offering merchandise at big discounts. Though many shoppers were disappointed with 'out of stock' stickers and website errors, those who managed to grab a bargain on Monday showed off their buys on social media sites.The Bangalore-based Flipkart, which sparked off the e-contest with its much-publicized Big Billion Day sale, said it had notched up $100 million in sales on Monday as shoppers bought 20 lakh products from the site. Going by Flipkart's expected annual sales of $3 billion (Rs 18,000 crore), that's a 12-fold jump from the $8.2 million it has been doing on average per day.
Its competitor Snapdeal, which ran an ad with a cheeky tagline 'For others it's a big day. For us, today's no different', said sales had almost doubled in certain segments, such as apparel, although the average increase till late evening was 15 times. In a statement, CEO Kunal Bahl, CEO claimed that his company's sales hit Rs 1 crore a minute although a spokesperson later clarified that these numbers were seen during the initial hours of their Diwali sale.
Amazon, which has thrown the gauntlet at its competitors with huge investments in India, was more coy about revealing figures, saying its "Mission to Mars' campaign had seen sales double, but compared to Sunday. Amazon also resorted to some ambush marketing. When surfers keyed in "bigbillionday" in their browser, they landed on the amazon.in site, not on Flipkart.
Smartphones and footwear have seen the highest spurt in demand, followed by laptops, tablets and consumer electronics, Snapdeal and Amazon said.
Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl
"This is a watershed moment for Indian retail and we hope to keep raising the bar going ahead," Mukesh Bansal, CEO, Myntra & SVP, Flipkart Fashion, told TOI on clocking $100 million in sales.
Amazon, which has thrown the gauntlet at its competitors with huge investments in India, was more coy about revealing figures, saying its "Mission to Mars' campaign had seen sales double, but compared to Sunday. Amazon also resorted to some ambush marketing. When surfers keyed in "bigbillionday" in their browser, they landed on the amazon.in site, not on Flipkart.
Smartphones and footwear have seen the highest spurt in demand, followed by laptops, tablets and consumer electronics, Snapdeal and Amazon said.
Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl
"This is a watershed moment for Indian retail and we hope to keep raising the bar going ahead," Mukesh Bansal, CEO, Myntra & SVP, Flipkart Fashion, told TOI on clocking $100 million in sales.
Some disgruntled customers, however, coined hashtags like #Flopkart and #Failkart after they had problems with the site but Flipkart defended itself by saying the consumer demand was higher than expected. It also said it would continue with its promotional offers and discounts this festival season.
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