So far, fast-selling small-tickets items like smartphones, apparel and fashion accessories have been game changers for ecommerce biggies during big shopping events. This year online marketplaces Flipkart and Amazon are placing their bets on big-ticket items – large appliances.
Though this product category account for less than 10% of online sales, etailers hope that the lure of good deals will bring in more customers to their platform.
Apparel, fashion accessories and mobile phone will continue to sell and will contribute the majority to the online festive sales. But etailers are doing their best to push sales of home appliances as the profit margin of these products are high.
Indian etailer Flipkart has spent the last few months sourcing refrigerators, washing machines and televisions sets from brands and sellers.
“Our ‘inwards’ stop on 28 September. After that, the warehouses have to be reconfigured. ….we import some products. In some cases, we directly import from brands. Then there are cases when brands import but we take over from the port. (So) the first half of my day just goes in making calls and finding out where the stuff is,” revealed Sandeep Karwa, Director Product Management at Flipkart.
Flipkart is counting on steep discounts and exchange program to encourage buyers to purchase large appliances such as TV sets.
“Our upselling this Big Billion Day will be to sell a lot of 40-inch TVs and smart TVs. The prices that we will be offering for these will be almost a level lower. So a 40-inch TV should be around the price of a 32-inch TV,” said Karwa while talking about Flipkart’s 2016 Big Billion strategy.
On the other hand, US-based Amazon has expanded its delivery network to 100 cities in order to reach more buyers. The etailer believes that its association with big appliances brands and sellers will help them to offer exclusive deals to customers.
Sumit Sahay, Director, Category Management at Amazon Seller Services shared,
“We believe we have the largest selection in these categories. We have direct engagements with leading brands such as Samsung, Whirlpool, Godrej and Hitachi as well as engagements with sellers of appliances. Apart from having the largest selection, we will have exclusive products from brands and offer them at attractive prices next month.”
Since Indian etailers are going to spend a considerable amount of their energy and marketing budget to promote sales of large appliances, sellers dealing in the same category can gain from this opportunity. Amazon, Flipkart and others will definitely promote their official sale hashtags like #BigBillionDays, #GreatIndianFestival.
So online sellers, replenish your stock, use social media with hashtags to promote your deals and make the most of this festive season.
Editor team is specialized in introducing the marketplace content targeting the Indian online sellers. They plan and coordinate to bring the appealing content for the small businesses on how to partner with the e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart and strategies for improving their online business.
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