Snapdeal to kick off festive sale from Oct 16

Value-focused e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal on Thursday said its first sale of the festival season will run from October 16-20. Snapdeal's larger rival, Walmart-owned Flipkart is slated to host its annual 'The Big Billion Days' sale from October 16-21.

Amazon will hold its 'Great Indian Festival' from October 17 onwards, while online fashion retailer Myntra will hold its 'Big Fashion Festival' between October 16-22.

Snapdeal's 'Kum Me Dum' sale selection is built around the choices indicated by more than 1.25 lakh participants across 92 cities, it said in a statement.

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The company can hold more sale events in late October and early November, it added.

Snapdeal said it has worked closely with manufacturers to bring products for its customers at prices lower than last year. It added over 10,000 sellers in the last three months to increase its inventory of value priced merchandise, it added.

"Snapdeal's focus this year is to offer a customised Diwali experience. That is why our Diwali sale selection is based on extensive users inputs. Through an expanded assortment and festive offers, our sellers have put together deals that will help buyers get more value for their spends this Diwali," Snapdeal said.

Snapdeal will also launch dedicated themed e-stores including Navratri, Karva Chauth, Dhanteras, among others, to ease festive shopping, it added.

Ahead of the festive sale, Snapdeal has also ramped up its logistics network by adding 25 new centres and plans to add more in coming weeks, the statement said.

E-commerce companies see a large chunk of their business coming in during the festive season and make significant investments ahead of time to ramp up their capacity.

The festive season sees players holding multiple sale events, timed around Dussehra and Diwali.

Electronics, fashion and home furnishing are some of the categories that see huge demand during the festive season.

A report by RedSeer estimates that festive sales this year are expected to almost double and touch USD 7 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) as compared to USD 3.8 billion in the same period last year.