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Vivina Vishwanathan, Mint\n<\/i><\/p>\n
Vivina Vishwanathan, Mint
\n<\/i><\/p>\n
Mumbai, 3 October 2016<\/i><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"..\/images\/online-festive-sale.jpg\")
If\nyou are an online shopper, you will find yourself in the midst of the\nannual festival sales offered by various e-commerce companies. This\nyear, e-commerce companies, such as Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal\nkicked off their annual sales from the first week of October.
Flipkart’s\nBig Billion Days 2016 began from 2 October and will end on 6 October.\nDay 1 is for fashion, home d\ufffdcor, televisions and home appliances. Day\n2 is for mobiles and mobile accessories. Day 3 is for all other\nelectronic items and days 4 and 5 are for the complete range of\nproducts.
Amazon’s Great Indian Sale ends on 5 October while\nSnapdeal’s Unbox Diwali Sale will end on 6 October. ShopClues offers a\n10-day sale which ends on 10 October.
Deals and offers<\/span>
The\ndiscounts range between 10% and 70% depending on the product and the\nwebsite you shop from. Along with this there is an additional cash back\noffered by banks if you use their debit or credit cards.
For\ninstance, SBI’s debit card holders get an additional discount for\nbuying on Flipkart during the sale period. “SBI’s credit card holders\ncan avail 10% instant discount of up to Rs5,250 during the offer\nperiod. This is in addition to discounts given by the merchant,” said\nVijay Jasuja, chief executive officer, SBI Cards.
He further\nsaid that merchant-offered equated monthly instalments (EMIs) have been\na big driver of sales. “We anticipate EMI purchases to contribute\nsignificantly to the overall card spends this year too,” said Jasuja.\nBanks tied up with e-commerce companies expecting more spends.
“Last\nyear, we saw a growth of over 30% in our total credit card spends\nduring the festive season. E-commerce spends rose considerably, upwards\nof 45% during the same period,” Jasuja added.
Similarly, HDFC\nBank Ltd has offers for Amazon customers, while American Express has\ntied up with Myntra and ShopClues to give additional discounts.
Keep in mind<\/span>
Experts\nsay that compared to the last 2 years, the discounts are lower this\ntime. “If you notice, the message around discounts and offers has been\nvery subtle and e-commerce companies are now focusing more on\nsustainability.”
Hence, consumers will, in a way, get less\ndiscounts than in the last couple of years,” said Ankur Bisen, senior\nvice-president, retail and consumer at the retail consultancy Technopak\nAdvisors.
The retailers know\nthat consumers will buy and sensitivity to discounts is lower during\nthe festival season. “There is a large segment that still buys around\nthe festivals and we are seeing overall growth in consumption,” said\nDevangshu Dutta, chief executive officer, Third Eyesight, a retail\nconsultancy firm.<\/span>
But to make\nthe most out of what is on offer, shop around. Some companies give\nadditional discounts if you buy through their app. So, you may get\ninstant deals if you download the app and then buy.
Check your internet connectivity to avoid any glitches. Also, by registering with the websites, you can checkout faster.
Using\ncredit cards and debit cards can give you additional discounts.\nRemember that no e-commerce platform offers additional discount for\ncash on delivery. Hence, choose the mode of payment wisely. Clean your\nbrowsing history as most of the e-commerce firms use algorithms to\nunderstand what you need and that could impact the prices.
Happy shopping.<\/p>\n