E-commerce firms Flipkart, Amazon to host flagship sales from September 27

Leading e-commerce firms Flipkart and Amazon will start their annual flagship sale events from September 27, with 24-hour early access for their Prime, VIP and Flipkart Plus members, the two companies said on Monday.

Flipkart’s ‘The Big Billion Days’ (TBBD) 2024 will continue till October 6, while the ‘Amazon Great Indian Festival’ (AGIF) goes on for about a month.

E-commerce firm Meesho said it would start its ‘Mega Blockbuster Sale’ on September 27. There would be over 2 million sellers and 120 million product listings across 30 categories.

Etailer Myntra said it would start its Big Fashion Festival (BFF) on September 26. The festival would feature about 3.4 million styles, marking a 47 per cent increase from its previous edition. The event will see participation from more than 9,700 leading brands. Myntra insiders said members of Myntra’s loyalty programme would get early access to the event 24 hours in advance.

Ahead of the festival season, Flipkart launched 11 new fulfilment centres (FCs) in nine cities in the run up to TBBD, bringing the total number of FCs in India to 83.

Fulfilment centres are warehouse facilities from where goods are packaged and shipped to customers.

This development has directly generated over 100,000 jobs across its supply chain in the country, it said.

“As India’s festival season begins, we remain committed to creating value for the entire nation - from customers seeking affordability to sellers and local manufacturers scaling their reach,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group.

Amazon said that customers can get attractive deals on the widest selection of products, at great value with the convenience of fast and reliable delivery.

“The Amazon Great Indian Festival 2024 promises to offer customers a wide selection, brand new product launches, great deals, convenient shopping experience, fast and reliable deliveries, easy & flexible payment options and much more,” said Saurabh Srivastava, vice-president, Amazon India.

This festive season, Amazon has also announced a significant reduction in selling fees across multiple product categories on the marketplace.

Flipkart goes high-tech with AI

Flipkart has also implemented new tech innovations for the event. Several new video commerce engagements are expected to go live closer to TBBD. Brands and sellers will be opening their best offers with Live commerce this year.

The firm has come up with Flippi 2.0. This is a GenAI powered chat assistant which helps customers get answers to any shopping-related queries they have, in a hassle-free conversational manner.

There are also Gen AI-enabled 3D product explainer videos. These are videos with 3D visualisation of products and its features with voiceovers for enhanced product understanding. There is also a feature that allows users to try-on watches virtually on their wrists to boost their purchase confidence. This TBBD will see 20 per cent higher Seller Rewards and new Customer Constructs to help sellers maximise their growth potential during the festive season.

Flipkart is gearing up to meet the festive demand for same-day delivery with over 200,000 SKUs (stock keeping units), across over 20 cities ahead of the sale event.

The company’s value commerce platform Shopsy will give customers access to 160 million products.

E-COM BATTLEGROUND
 

> Flipkart boasts 200,000 stock-keeping units in over 20 cities

> Has launched 11 fulfilment centres in 9 cities; generated over 100,000 jobs across supply chain

> Amazon has cut seller fees 3-12% across product categories

> Myntra will feature more than 9,700 brands 
 

The Big Billion Days, Amazon Great Indian Festival will open a day earlier for subscribers