E-commerce giants pass on ₹300 crore tax cuts to festival shoppers

Amazon and Flipkart channelled over Rs 300 crore in GST savings to festive shoppers as sellers adopted new tax rates, boosting demand for appliances and electronics

India's two largest e-commerce platforms facilitated over Rs 300 crore in goods and services tax (GST) savings for customers during their ongoing festival sales, as sellers passed through benefits from September's tax reforms across appliances and consumer goods.

 

Amazon India enabled Rs 100 crore in savings, while rival Flipkart facilitated over Rs 200 crore, with both companies deploying technical infrastructure and seller training programmes to ensure compliance with reduced rates. The tax cuts, which lowered levies on appliances by 10 percentage points, coincided with surging demand for premium products, including air conditioners and kitchen appliances, during the crucial shopping season that drives annual e-commerce performance.

 

Amazon India's Rs 100 crore in facilitated savings came as the e-commerce platform delivered 40 per cent of orders placed in the first 24 hours on the same or next day. It demonstrated logistics capabilities that reached every serviceable pin code nationwide within three days of the sale's launch.

 

“We enabled a smooth transition to the new GST rates starting September 22,” said Saurabh Srivastava, vice-president, Amazon India. “Through tools, automatic updation of tax codes, masterclasses on the changes and more, we empowered lakhs of sellers to conveniently implement GST benefits for customers.”

 

Air conditioners grew at double digit year-on-year, while inverter batteries surged 2X and dishwashers grew 120 per cent. Kitchen appliances saw a 50 per cent jump in eco-friendly units. Everyday essentials, including beverages, oils and cereals grew over 100 per cent, while high-protein foods surged 150 per cent.

 

“Today, one out of two Samsung appliances sold on Amazon are from the Bespoke AI range. This momentum is led by customer preference for our side-by-side refrigerators, front-load washing machines- 9kg/12kg, and WindFree air conditioners,” said Gufran Alam, vice president and head of digital appliances, Samsung. 

Flipkart facilitated Rs 200 crore through similar technical infrastructure, including sensitising seller partners and providing a simplified seller dashboard with automatic backend updates of the new GST slabs. The Walmart-owned firm has also undertaken training sessions and webinars to bring clarity to the sellers and to address their queries.

 

“We are actively working with our sellers to ensure that the benefits of the GST reductions are effectively translated into lower consumer prices,” said the Flipkart spokesperson.