The later months of a calendar year are special in the Indian society. Festivals Christmas, Diwali, Dussehra glitter the ending months with their enjoyment, excitement, and festivities. Riding on the pleasant emotions of Indians associated with these festivals, online shopping websites too have started an Indian version of Black Friday namely Flipkart’s Big Billion Days or Amazon’s Great Indian Festival. These shopping events have become a part of consumers’ knowledge and they look forward to grab the deals on products they need or want.
The year 2020 is different. Pandemic COVID-19 has not only upended the lives of almost every individual and business, but also left the routine wishes and desires unanswered. In a world of social distancing, no non-essential travel, and a general ambiance of fear and distrust, shopping has been hit.
No one knew, of course, that something like this would
unfold on the entire world like this without any warning. In the normal course
of business, sellers have stocked a certain amount of goods which were not sold
in expected quantities due to the lockdown.
So, what we are seeing is an abnormally high amount of stock
and thus a consequent locking up of working capital. Business basics teach not
to tie up working capital in inventory unless there is a guarantee that the
goods will be sold at a much higher price.
What all this leads to is a high possibility of deep discounts in the upcoming sales on all online shopping websites. The discounts will probably reach the levels that were in the days when these websites were launched in 2015 and 2016. Further, delay and cancellations in export orders have resulted in an inventory that is choking the finances of companies.
The primary categories for the extra discounts could be fashion, small electronics, appliances, personal care products, toys.
Another stimulus is the entry of Reliance’s online retail
JioMart. Reliance has demonstrated a tendency to disrupt the markets they enter
for the first time with exceedingly high discounts e.g. 4G wireless data
services were offered for free for a long period of time and resulted in a
thorough pounding of the companies in the Indian telecom space. A similar consequence
cannot be ruled out for online retailing.
Whether an individual buys what they need or what they want, the coming weeks could prove to be a pleasant surprise when Flipkart’s Big Billion Sale goes live from October 16 to October 21 and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival starts on October 17 for non-Prime members while for Prime members the sale starts on October 16.