Amazon India claims spectacular show this festive season, posts 3 times sales in October

Thrilled with the overwhelming response from online customers during its festive season sales held in phases last month, Amazon India said its total sales in October were three times more than sales seen in the same month of festival sale in the previous year. According to the US-based e-commerce behemoth, sales of household items along with membership to its Prime subscription service aided significantly to overall volumes, the Economic Times report said. [caption id=“attachment_3082156” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] While the US parent has committed around $5 billion fund infusion into its Indian arm of business, the domestic subsidiary has received Rs 7,463 crore in the last fiscal (2015-16) and Rs 1,888 crore in the same fiscal period last year, taking total infusion to around Rs 9,600 crore, the ET report said. The huge round of capital investment has already helped Amazon push Snapdeal into third spot, while playing a catch-up game with Flipkart. The US retail major exudes confidence and says it will soon displace the Bansals-controlled firm from the number one position. “We have already committed at least $5 billion (to the India business) and that’s just the beginning,” Amazon India country head Amit Agarwal said. “… This is very early for e-commerce in India.” ET reported, quoting Amazon India country head Amit Agarwal. The Jeff Bezos-controlled firm, however, did not share the details of sales recorded in the existing two phases, insisting it did not want to make ‘bogus comparisons’. “Even if the numbers given (by Flipkart) in the first wave were true, then in the worst case we have caught up (with it) in three years and are growing at 2.7 times as compared to last year,” the report added quoting Agarwal. Even as the US major continues to bet big on India’s e-commerce market, the Seattle-headquartered firm last week suffered a record $541 million loss in its international business in the September quarter, mainly owing to its mounting expenses in the India business. In its US market, Amazon.com Inc reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit, while providing a disappointing fourth quarter revenue forecast. The company expects net sales between $42 billion and $45.5 billion for the current-quarter, while analysts expect fourth-quarter sales of $44.58 billion. In the first phase between 1-5 October, Amazon’s Great Indian sale registered sales of 15 million units. Against this, Bengaluru-headquartered Flipkart claimed to have sold 15.5 million units, including that of fashion portal Myntra, during the first phase of its Big Billion Day sale held between 2-6 October. Both Amazon and Flipkart held their last leg of festive online sales between 25-28 October, trying to woo customers engaged in hectic last-minute shopping activity ahead of Diwali festivities. A recent Business Standard report said Flipkart is expecting sales to jump four times its monthly average, with focus to remain mainly on popular categories such as electronics, fashion, etc. The combined sales of all the three e-commerce entities – Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal - during last month’s first week sale was pegged at around Rs 6,500 crore, up 20 percent over the previous year, according a report in Financial Express. According to research firm RedSeer, e-commerce companies are expected to register transactions worth Rs 11,000-13,000 crore ($1.7-1.9 billion) in October, driven by festive offers and discounts on their platforms.