Offline retailers take the festive fight to e-tailers with discounts, gifts

Some retailers such as the Tata group's Croma believe online festive sales are actually a boon for brick-and-mortar stores

As the festive season draws near, pages of newspapers are steadily filling up with advertisements by retailers and brands. Many are offering 40-60 per cent discount and gifts to get buyers into stores and combating the publicity blitzkrieg by Amazon and Flipkart.

The annual festive season sales of both Amazon and Flipkart will start on Wednesday. But, this year, offline retailers, too, have padded up to give them a run for their money.

Many claimed they expect an increase of 20-30 per cent over the previous year's sales during the festive season. There are also fewer e-tailers this year, with