Flash sales are the way to go, says Snapdeal

Leading ecommerce company Snapdeal has identified the merits of flash sales. The company has witnessed immense sale of products in the recent flash sales it conducted for various products (60,000 Maggi packets gone in 5 minutes, 2 million smartphones over a six month period).

As a result, Snapdeal is convinced that flash sales are the way to go, and will be holding more of them in 2016.

Karan Khara, VP of strategic alliances at Snapdeal said, “While the ‘flash sale’ model was introduced more out of compulsion, it has turned out to be a winning strategy.”

What is a flash sale and why is it so popular?

A flash sale is a sale where an ecommerce company offers a particular product on sale for a single day. Buyers might need to pre-register to participate in the sale, which is invariably loaded with offers and discounts.

Karan Khara explains, “Flash sales acts as a trigger to release pent up demand in the market, and helps us predict demand so as to align the back end shipping and logistics.”

Gearing up for flash sales

Snapdeal has modified its technology to help deal with the massive number of orders that come in during flash sales. The company has also tweaked its warehouses to ensure speed in delivery. The fact that such sales are popular with shoppers is evident in the number of units sold, and the speedy delivery.

Snapdeal has also claimed that the number of returns is half of the average number (during a regular workday) during flash sales. Happy with the way things are going, Snapdeal plans to hold similar sales for personal grooming products and fitness products in the coming months.