Amazon India Sees Red After Report Claims Flipkart’s Victory In Festive Sales Battle

Ecommerce giant Amazon India has once again dismissed claims made by market research and advisory firm RedSeer in its report on the festive season sales. The report on the ecommerce industry had claimed that Flipkart accounted for 68% of the gross merchandise value (GMV) during the seven-day sale.

Responding to the report, an Amazon spokesperson has reportedly said, “We cannot comment on speculative reports without transparent methodology. The Great Indian Festival has given lakhs of sellers and hundreds of brands their festive season on Amazon.in.”

The latest Redseer report noted that goods worth $4.1 Bn (INR 29,000 Cr) were sold on ecommerce platforms during the week-long festive sale, representing a 55% increase from last year’s $2.7 Bn gross merchandise value (GMV). The report added that while sales on both Flipkart and Amazon together comprised 90% of the total ecommerce sales in India in the week since the sales began, Flipkart captured 68% of the GMV.

Last year too, the RedSeer report had found Flipkart to have won the sales battle, accounting for over 64% share. Amazon had dismissed these claims at that time as well, saying, “Amazon led with the highest share of transacting customers at 51%, order share of 42% and value share of 45% across all marketplaces in India.”

Inc42 has reached out to RedSeer seeking more details on their methodology and research scope

According to RedSeer estimates, the combined sales on Flipkart Group (Flipkart+Myntra) and Amazon accounted for more than 90% of the ecommerce industry. Flipkart had earlier claimed that its ‘The Big Billion Days’ festive season sale saw a 1.5x number of transacting sellers compared to last year, of which nearly 35% witnessed 3x sales. The company has delivered 10 Mn shipments with over 3.5 Mn of them delivered by its kirana partners.

Flipkart and its subsidiary Myntra are holding two festive season sales this year, of which the first ended on October 21 and 22 respectively. The company will now resume their Diwali sales from October 29 onwards for a week. Amazon, on the other hand, has decided to hold a month long festive season sale this year. According to an earlier Redseer report, both Amazon and Flipkart crossed $3.5 Bn (INR 26K Cr) sales in the first four days of the sale, surpassing last year’s aggregate numbers.

Meanwhile, Flipkart-owned Myntra had claimed that it registered a 100% growth in orders received. According to the company, 45 Mn customers visited the company’s portal out of which 4 Mn shopped 13 Mn items during the ‘Big Fashion Festival’ sale that concluded on October 22.

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