Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra all set to roll out festive season sales; to focus on fashion

With the festive season around the corner, e-commerce websites such as Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra have announced their much-awaited annual sales.

While Flipkart’s Big Billion Days and Myntra’s Big Fashion Festival start on October 16, Amazon is expected to reveal the dates for its Great Indian Festival sale soon.

Walmart-owned Flipkart’s largest annual sale, Big Billion Days (BBD), will end on October 21, while Myntra’s Big Fashion Festival will close on October 22.

Every year, Amazon and Flipkart lock horns during this period for market leadership.

Following the pandemic, this year’s festive season sale has become all the more crucial as more and more customers are sticking to online channels to make purchases.

Also Read: Flipkart Big Billion Days Sale 2020 to kick off on October 16: Here’s what you need to know

Flipkart’s sale will open for the company’s premium, Flipkart Plus customers, a day in advance.

Cooped up in their houses due to the Covid-induced lockdown, this sale is being keenly awaited by most customers.

Meanwhile, retailers are hoping the sales will revive the fortunes of the struggling retail industry.

According to the Retailers’ association of India, non-essential retail sales plunged 80 percent in May after seeing a 50 percent erosion in March.

Myntra is expecting to double sales growth from the previous year as most Indians will be shopping for fashion online during this festive season. Tier 2 and 3 cities and towns will be a key focus area for the platform this time around.

While Flipkart and Amazon have not revealed their sales targets for this year, they generated Rs 19,000 crore in festive sales last year.

Highlights of the Flipkart Sale

Deals will be available across top categories such as mobile, TVs and appliances, electronics and accessories, fashion, beauty, food, toys, baby care, home & kitchen, furniture and grocery.

Flipkart has also forged new strategic partnerships with top brands across each category to bring a wide assortment of products and deals to ensure that consumers from metros to Tier IV cities also participate in its Big Billion Days sale.

Flipkart consumers shopping during The Big Billion Days will be able to avail a 10 percent instant discount through their SBI Debit and Credit Cards.

Also, no-cost EMIs will be made available to consumers through offers from Bajaj Finserv EMI cards and other leading bank credit and debit cards.

Strengthening its efforts to provide consumers attractive finance options, this year, Flipkart has partnered with rival Paytm to offer assured cashbacks to consumers paying through Paytm Wallet and Paytm UPI. The Flipkart Group’s fin-tech firm PhonePe directly competes with Paytm.

Highlights of the Myntra festive sale

Myntra’s Insider’s Elite and Icon consumers will get exclusive early access to the Big Fashion Festival from October 14 onwards.

Myntra is working with more brands than ever before from across the country to give customers a regional flavour in fashion.

In addition to ethnicwear, the fashion major will offer items in several other categories, such as kidswear, women’s wear, home décor, watches and wearables, jewellery, men’s wear, beauty and personal care, footwear and gifting.

All Myntra customers will be able to avail a 10 percent instant discount on ICICI debit and credit cards during the sale event. Discounts in the range of 50-70 percent will be available on most fashion wear.

Amazon Sale
Amazon has given shoppers a sneak peek of what to expect during the Great Indian Festival Sale on its website.

As always, Amazon Prime members will get first crack at the sale.

Amazon will provide a 10 percent instant discount under its festive offers if purchases are done through HDFC debit and credit cards or on EMIs.

Moreover, the Amazon website indicated that there will be no cost EMI options on Bajaj Finserv Debit and Credit cards and exchange offers on smartphones, laptops, other electronics and accessories.

Amazon also said there would be discounts of up to 60 percent on kitchen and home products and up to 70 percent on clothing and accessories. It also indicated discounts of up to 50 percent on food and gourmet products and up to 70 percent on electronics and accessories.

Attractive deals are also expected on phones from OnePlus, Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Nokia, Honor and also the Apple iPhone range.

Aiming to drive sales after most apparel companies failed to do business during the lockdown, Amazon Fashion is all set to provide up to 80 percent discount on all clothing accessories with no cost EMIs and a 30-day return policy.

Anand Ramanathan, Partner, Deloitte India, had recently told Moneycontrol in an interaction that during the lockdown, lifestyle and fashion retailers (apparel, consumer durables, jewellery, accessories and footwear, among others) suffered revenue losses.

Aditya Birla Fashion Retail Ltd (ABFRL)’s revenue declined 85 percent YoY to Rs 3.2 billion owing to the Covid-19 lockdown, while its EBITDA loss (including other income) stood at Rs1.8 billion in Q1FY21. The lifestyle business’s revenues declined 81 percent YoY to Rs 1.9 billion.