Big Billion Day lessons: How Amazon is trying to avoid doing a #Flopkart

Is there some moderation in the e-commerce frenzy which began earlier this week with the Flipkart Big Billion Day sale? Amazon today began its Diwali Dhamaka but wisely said across its full-page print ads that offers would be valid on select brands, products and variants and only till stocks last. This warning, usually seen across all offline sales, was missing during the Flipkart mega sale and led to huge heartburn among shoppers as mouthwatering deals were over within minutes of the Flipkart sale beginning on 8 am on 6 October.

Flipkart is still reeling from the impact of ill-will it generated on that fateful day and its spokesperson said today that the e-commerce giant is minimising cancellations of deliveries. Also, there is no mentionof the mega sale today on Flipkart even as rivals continue to speak of mega offers and deep discounts.

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Snapdeal also again resorted to full page newspaper ads this morning, using the Twitter hashtag #checksnapdealtoday to say that customers should not forget to check out deals on the site. But like the cautious tone adopted by Amazon and Flipkart, it did not say what the deals were on its site.

Even the Amazon deals seem to be more rational than those seen on Flipkart on Monday. On big ticket items like laptops and mobile phones, Amazon is offering only flat 20-30 percent discounts unlike the earlier frenzy where tablets on Flipkart were being offered at a tenth of their original price and some mobile phones were available for 40 percent off and more. Some deep discounts are being advertised on the site but they seem to be for specific items for a limited period. An Amazon spokesperson denied reports that the site crashed around 7 am this morning, when the sale began.

The note of caution that has crept into e-commerce sales over the last few days should help settle some dust - these sites have been receiving flak from offline retailers who have alleged that their brands were sold on Flipkart on Monday at prices below cost.

Some media reports have said today that big consumer electronics brands have suggested discounts do not exceed 20 percent on e-commerce sites even during mega sale period, so that these brands’ offline sales do not suffer. But the moot question is this: If a consumer finds virtually the same deals online as are available at brick and mortar retail stores, the attractiveness of the latter mode of shopping dwindles. Besides, margins for some products sold online are higher because of elimination of physical storage and retail space investments - this should translate as lower cost to consumers.