Festive sale: Amazon crosses last year's Day One numbers

For Amazon India, the outcome of its 12-hour festival sale for ‘Prime members only’ came as a pleasant surprise. Senior company executives said most of its categories had sold more during the half-day marathon sale on Wednesday than they did on Day One of the sale last year. Interestingly, Prime membership itself was the most sought-after product.
 
Amazon’s Great Indian Festival sale for non-Prime members will start on Thursday and will continue till Sunday.
 
“Prime is the largest selling product. We saw a massive spike in people buying Prime as a product. The sale went up 10X,” said Manish Tiwary, vice-president of category management at Amazon India.
 

After the expansion of its fashion, mobile phones and electronics, groceries, and mobile wallet categories, the e-commerce company is working on a war footing to expand its large appliances base, which has seen 400 per cent growth in the past one year.
 
Witnessing a strong traction, the company has 12 dedicated fulfilment centres across nine states to support the growth of these heavy and bulky products, which include air-conditioners, televisions, and refrigerators, among others.
 
Tiwary said the sale of large appliances had gone up as much as 52X. “Even in mobile phones, we have seen a spike brand-wise. Samsung phones sold 22X more and Motorola 18X,” he said. 
 
Paytm Mall eyes half a billion in sales
 
Paytm Mall, which has launched ‘Mera Cashback Sale’ from September 20 to 23, is confident of selling products worth $500 million. The firm said the first day saw a surge in transactions on its platform.
 
“Our sale has been well received by consumers, with users from over 750 cities having placed orders with merchants across 130 cities. We are confident of hitting half a billion dollars worth of sales this season,” said Amit Sinha, chief operating officer, Paytm Mall.
 
Customers are set to receive Rs 501 crore of assured cashback as the company works jointly with brand-authorised stores, retail chains and shopkeepers to offer a wide range of products.
 
Amazon partners Shoppers Stop
In another tie-up that is likely to boost Amazon’s offline reach, Amazon Seller Services Private Limited has joined hands with Shoppers Stop. Under the agreement, the whole range of products sold by the offline retail chain would be available on Amazon India.