Flipkart emerges winner during festive sale; Amazon thinks not

Amazon, the leading e-commerce player in India, witnessed record sales during the festive sale, but reports suggested that it was knocked down by its chief competition Flipkart, which accounted for majority of the gross merchandise value (GMV) during 7 days sale. The RedSeer Consulting released data that showed Flipkart sales were more than double of what Amazon sold during the festive sale period this year.

Amazon has responded to the RedSeer report, raising questions on its methodology.

"We cannot comment on speculative reports without transparent methodology. The Great Indian Festival has given lakhs of sellers & hundreds of brands their biggest festive season on Amazon.in. We look forward to continue helping businesses get back on track and safely deliver joy to our customers during the festive season," an Amazon India spokesperson said in a statement.

The RedSeer report is based on the industry sales performance from October 15-21. The week 2 and week 3 data wasn't taken into consideration, which was crucial for Amazon due to its festive sale. During this time, Flipkart was not hosting any sale.

How Flipkart emerged winner?

According to the RedSeer report, Flipkart Group emerged as the overall leader during the week-long festive sales, accounting for 68 percent of the total sales as the country saw a massive 55 percent (year-on-year) growth with $4.1 billion (nearly Rs 29,000 crore) goods being sold across e-commerce platforms.

Flipkart Group and Amazon together accounted for over 90 percent of the total online sales during the seven-day period, according to Bengaluru-based consulting firm RedSeer which has forecast that online platforms will clock $4 billion in sales for the respective festive period this year.

Smartphones once again led the most sought-after shopping category with capturing 47 percent of total festive sales in the seven day period (October 15-21), driven by new launches and affordable models. The report added that smartphones worth Rs 1.5 crore were sold every minute across online platforms in the first week of festive sales -- enabled by value selection, affordability schemes and fast delivery.