Walmart-backed Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart grabbed 51% share, during this festive season sale, leaving behind Amazon with a humbling 32% share, according to research firm RedSeer Consulting.
The research firm said, that the increase in smartphone buyers and fashion verticals helped Flipkart gain a lead over Amazon, during the sale from October 9-14.
“Flipkart accounted for more than half of GMV for the entire industry. Between Flipkart and Amazon, the share was 62-38. Higher share for Flipkart was driven by higher sales in both mobiles and fashion verticals,” RedSeer said.
Apart from Flipkart and Amazon, other e-commerce players Snapdeal, Paytm Mall, and ShopClues too ran their festive season sales, while their combined share accounted for a meagre 17% of the sales.
The smartphone and fashion verticals grew by 70% and 78% respectively, accounting for the majority of the sale. The report also said, that despite heavy investments from both e-commerce giants, consumer electronics segment grew by 45%.
With the launch of new exclusive offers in mobile phones, day 2 of the sale was the biggest in terms of gross merchandise value (GMV).
Flipkart in a statement said the company “pushed the boundaries on many fronts and hit some of our biggest-ever numbers during its Big Billion Days (BBD).”
On the other hand, Amazon termed the report as speculative and lacking robust and credible methodology.
Elaborating on the sale numbers, Amazon spokesperson, said, “We received an overwhelming response to the Great Indian festival, with first 36 hours nearly surpassing the entire first wave last year and the entire wave growing by 96 per cent versus last year…the festive season so far has exceeded our most aggressive plans.”
RedSeer said its report is based on interview with experts from supply chain, banking ecosystem and brands, seller views, customer surveys and other research.
While the first wave of the sale is over, Amazon is preparing for the second phase of its “Great Indian Festival” from October 24-28. It is to be seen how the next phase of the sale works out for Amazon, considering there have been a few more smartphones launched, since the last sale.