Flipkart, Amazon festival war to coincide

It will be an app versus website war from next week as e-commerce majors have decided to go for a festival kill around the same dates.

The biggest clash could be between Flipkart and Amazon, with both announcing the same dates. Last year, too, the two had a high-pitch Diwali sales battle.

American e-commerce major Amazon, with India headquarters in Bengaluru, has said it would have a ‘Great Indian Festive Sale’ on October 13-17. “We are very certain that the sale will be the biggest ever for India’s online shoppers,'' said Samir Kumar, vice-president, category management, Amazon India. It is aslo offering special discounts on app-shopping.

Amazon's Bengaluru-based rival, Flipkart, had earlier announced the same dates for its signature ''Big Billion Days' sale. So did Myntra, the fashion portal Flipkart had acquired last year.

Snapdeal, another major player, has announced it would hold a special ‘Monday Electronics Sale’ on Monday, where shoppers can avail discounts up to 60 per cent across personal devices, home appliances, and electronics. In fact, it is planning a product-specific Monday sale till Diwali, which is when it will have a bigbang sale.

Sources in Flipkart said this year’s ‘app only’ sale is aimed at being a dry run towards Flipkart going all-app in the near future. Cautious about not repeating the logistics mistakes of last year, Flipkart is focusing on its warehouse strength.