Job hunting? Try Amazon, Flipkart; they're hiring 120,000 ahead of Diwali

The festive sale not only brings in discounts and deals for customers but is also an annual showdown of sorts between the two largest players - Amazon and Flipkart

As festive fever grips the nation, e-commerce firms are seeing an uptick in demand on their online portals. To meet the same, Amazon and Flipkart are likely to hire 120,000 people for temporary jobs primarily in delivery, warehouses and hubs, according to The Economic Times. 

Amazon and homegrown Indian rival Flipkart kicked off competing sales events, jostling to grab shoppers in India's October-December festive season when households make most big-ticket purchases.

"We are particularly excited by the three-fold rise in new customers and Prime sign-ups," Amit Agarwal, Amazon's India head, told Reuters. He said the company's push on attractive credit facilities, product insurance and a Hindi-version of its mobile website were among measures paying off this time around.

Flipkart has also leveraged alternative delivery models to increase its employee base. FQuick service allows people from all streams to take up delivery as freelancers and the e-tailer carries out 35 per cent of its total deliveries through this model.

"We accounted for half of the e-tailer industry's gross merchandise value, driven by higher sales in mobiles and fashion verticals, which grew 70 per cent and 78 per cent," a Flipkart spokesperson told IANS.

Similarly, Amazon has also doubled its headcount of temporary workers compared to last year. These employers will join Amazon's 50 fulfilment centres, 30 sort centres and about 150 delivery stations across the country to help the online giant to pack and ship orders.

About 20 million people are expected to shop on various e-commerce platforms during the festive season, helping big players like Amazon and Flipkart cash in Rs 3 billion in sales, according to a report by research firm RedSeer.

The festive sale not only brings in discounts and deals for customers but is also an annual showdown of sorts between the two largest players.

The competition between Flipkart and Amazon is expected to be even fiercer this year as both companies have invested significantly through the year to ramp up product offerings as well as logistics infrastructure to ensure speedier delivery.

While Flipkart now has the backing of US retail giant Walmart via a $16-billion deal signed earlier this year, Amazon India too received funding through the year from the US parent across operations like marketplace and payments business.