The Indian festive season has begun—and so has the sales war between the biggest ecommerce giants in the country!
Amazon India and Flipkart, the two biggest ecommerce giants in India, have always been in a neck-to-neck competition for supremacy in the country. There is no better occasion to showcase their strength and take advantage of people’s shopping mood than during the Indian festive season, which begins in late September featuring various festivals, like Durga Pooja, Dussehra and Diwali.
The competition between them is even more intense this year, as both companies are battling to claim a larger share of the growing Indian ecommerce market, which is expected to reach US$120 billion by 2026. On September 23, 2022, the two bigwigs of the Indian ecommerce market rolled out their much-anticipated annual sales, namely “The Big Billion Days” (TBBDs) sale by Flipkart and the “Great Indian Festival” (GIF) sale by Amazon India. Both sales will last for eight days to September 30, promising huge discounts and deals on a variety of products ranging from electronics and fashion to groceries.
With these sales taking off, all eyes are on who will win this year’s battle between the ecommerce titans. Read on to learn about the Amazon vs. Flipkart sales war and what they have in store for customers!
Amazon vs. Flipkart: offers and discounts comparisons
Amazon and Flipkart have not left any stone unturned in their preparations. A report highlights that sales are estimated to reach US$5.9 billion in the first week—a 28% increase from last year’s US$4.8 billion. That’s a lot of money changing hands!
| Parameters | Amazon India | Flipkart |
| New products: | 2000 product launches from brands, such as Samsung, Philips, iQOO, OnePlus, Eureka Forbes, Prestige, Boat, Noise, Maybelline, Puma, Sony and many more. | Not disclosed. But will provide 130 special deals by more than 90 brands across fashion, electronics, mobile phones, large appliances, personal care, and handicrafts categories. |
| Early access: | Amazon Prime members | Flipkart Plus members |
| Endorsement by Indian celebrities: | No information available | Virat Kohli, Kriti Sanon, Chef Vikas Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Ms Dhoni, to name a few |
| Offers: | 10% instant cashback on SBI credit and debit cards;5% cashback on Amazon Pay ICICI cards;3% cash back for non-Prime members;no cost equated monthly installments (EMI) on bank cards;exchange offers up to INR18,500 coupons to be redeemed later. | instant 10% discount on Axis Bank and ICICI Bank cards;no cost EMI options from Axis/ICICI;Paytm cashback on wallet and UPI transaction;discount per card may go up to INR7,500. |
For Amazon, it’s all about focusing on small businesses and ensuring they have a good selection of products. “Amazon India aims to digitize 10 million small businesses across the country, create 20 lakh (2,000,000) direct and indirect jobs and enable US$20 billion in cumulative exports by 2025,” said Vice President and Country Manager of Amazon India Manish Tiwary to ET Retail.
While for Flipkart, it’s about expanding its reach to tier two and tier three cities (smaller towns and villages in India). “Flipkart expects to continue its year-on-year growth and record more than 50% participation from tier 3 cities, told Chief Product and Technology Officer of Flipkart Jeyandran Venugopal to ET Retail.
Amazon vs. Flipkart: website feature comparisons
Both Amazon and Flipkart offer a wide range of products and services and have almost identical front-end user interfaces. However, regarding user experience and UI/UX, Flipkart is the clear winner. The filtering and sorting options are more thorough and simpler than those provided by Amazon. Unlike Amazon, Flipkart’s search filtering tools include all distinct brands and several search modification options.
On the other hand, Amazon has long been known for its exceptional customer service, which is one of the key reasons the company has been so successful. In contrast, Flipkart is often criticized for its poor customer support. Amazon’s customer care representatives are prompt and make every effort to resolve your problems quickly. In addition, Amazon offers a wide range of customer service options, including phone, email and live chat. However, Flipkart only offers phone support, which can be frustrating when you’re trying to resolve an issue. As a result, Amazon’s superior customer service is one of the main reasons the company has a leg up on its major competitor.
Who is going to win the ecommerce sales war in 2022?
The 2022 edition of Flipkart’s TBBD witnessed a higher number of daily users (compared to the previous year’s TBBD) on the app at 1.6 million per second, with most sellers and customers from tier two and smaller cities. This is an impressive feat, but Amazon India hit back by claiming it logged the biggest-ever first 36 hours of shopping with Prime early access of GIF this year. “We are humbled by the increase in new Prime member sign-ups and customers shopping across categories as they trust Amazon as their preferred online shopping destination,” said Tiwary.
As per Amazon, compared to an ordinary working day, there was a 1.75X increase in seller sign-ups and a 90% surge in flight bookings by Prime members during the 24-hour “Prime Early Access” window. Flipkart is yet to share more figures. However, it is safe to assume that the sales battle between Amazon and Flipkart is brewing up.
Amazon India and Flipkart are striving for a larger slice of the ecommerce pie in India, and they will not back down without a fight. It will be interesting to see how this sales war plays out over the next few days.
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Header image courtesy of Unsplash (edited by author)
