See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/317384444

Impact of Flash Sales on Consumers &E-Commerce Industry in India

Conference Paper · June 2017

DOI: 10.5176/2251-2012_QQE17.9

CITATION READS
1 7,849

2 authors:

Sujata Joshi Menachem Domb

Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management, Symbiosis International University Ashkelon Academic College
39 PUBLICATIONS   261 CITATIONS    28 PUBLICATIONS   70 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

IoT security View project

Currently working on Digital Marketing Understanding the technology & business aspects of mobile marketing View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Sujata Joshi on 09 November 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Impact of Flash Sales on Consumers &E-Commerce
Industry in India
Joshi Sujata Associate Professor, Domb Menachem Professor, Ashkelon Academy, Ashkelon,
Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management, Constituent of Israel Pandit Akshayand
Symbiosis International University, Lavale, Pune 412115, Thakur Viraj Students, Symbiosis Institute of Telecom
Maharashtra, India. Management, Constituent of Symbiosis International
Email: [email protected] University, Lavale, Pune 412115, Maharashtra, India. Email:
[email protected]; [email protected]

Abstract: Keywords: Indian e-commerce, Flash sales, Consumer Behaviour,

Big Billion Day, Great Indian Shopping Festival, Unbox Zindagi
Background/Objective: The Indian E-commerce industry is growing (Unbox life).
multifolds and is expected to reach $20 Billion by 2020. This is due to
changing mind-set of the Indian customers and ease of shopping
online. Major Indian E-commerce companies have come up with I.INTRODUCTION
strategies year on year to lure the customers – Flash sales one amongst
them. Flash sales such as Flipkart’s – ‘Big Billion Day’, Amazon. In’s- A. About the Ecommerce industry in India:
‘Great Indian Shopping Festival’ and Snap deal’s- ‘Unbox Zindagi
(Unbox Life)’ provide promotional sales on deeply discounted prices E-commerce, the platform where sellers register to sell &
on major Indian festivals. The objective of this research paper is to
buyers register to buy, has changed the shape of many industries
understand the impact of flash sales as a sales promotion tool on
revenues, sales, traffic and logistics of 3 major Ecommerce platforms
in India. Currently the internet user base in India stands
of India i.e. Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal. approximately at 402million [1]. A report by Nasscom and
Akamai Technologies predicts that 75% of new internet users
Research Methodology: Data related to the flash sales of 3 major will come from rural India [2]. Rise in quality of internet
online retailers from 2011 to 2016 wiz Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon, services, rising middle class with disposable income, user
was collected from secondary sources in order to analyse the impact of experience & rising mobile penetration are major drivers for
Flash sales on E commerce companies with respect to sales, revenues, rise in e-commerce sector [3]. Other incubators to the rise of
website traffic and logistics. online retail industry of India include better living standards,
Conclusion: The study will help e-commerce companies understand
growth in cities beyond metros,
the impact of flash sales for them.

growing investment in logistics and warehouses, busy lifestyles profitability [8, 15, and 16]. Excess inventory could also be
with lack of time for offline shopping, much wider product uploaded quickly, and sold quickly turning this into a benefit
choice, and rising online categorized sites [4, 5]. for the portal. [17]. Pricing in flash sales is done in such a way
Forrester predicts that in Asia-Pacific region, India will have that, the conversion of inventory to cash becomes very fast (e.g.
the one of the highest growth in e-commerce sector across the Groupon Gateways, Jetsetter). Similarly, in case of travel sector
globe[6].The e-commerce industry in India caters to different LivingSocial Escapes, a deal website once partnered with more
sectors such as online travel, fashion, electronics etc. New than 800 different properties simultaneously and was able to
sectors that are emerging in e-commerce include medicines, sell more than 600,000 room nights around the globe in a single
sale of luxury jeweller items, and furniture [7]. year [18]. The prime goals that could be accomplished by Flash
Sales include: increased profits, get new customers, manage
II. FLASH SALES AS A PROMOTION TOOL FOR THE inventory, more brand usage and higher market growth. Some
ECOMMERCE INDUSTRY other goals accomplished by flash sales include: filling
immediate occupancy needs; increasing exposure; reaching to
Flash sales in case of E-commerce industry can be defined as new customer market segments and include first customer
shopping intermediaries that are used as promotional means to trials. [19] Price promotions and non-monetary promotions, and
promote market and distribute goods such as electronics, also sales promotions always create a positive effect on the
clothing, etc. at deeply discounted prices. [8, 9, 10]Lee and Lee evaluation of the product and its purchase intention by the
(2012) [11] defined flash sales as electronic distribution customer [20, 21, 22, 23, 24]. The major role in case of flash
channels that are used for time limited heavy discounts for the sales has been played by price promotions, which in turn can
advance purchase of products or services. They are also referred change the long-term brand association for a customer [25, 26].
as sometimes Daily Deals [8] and Private Sales [12, 13]. E- Price promotions also create a positive impact on the purchase
Retail platforms are discount driven, as it’s a highly competitive volume [28, 29, 30, 31]. It is also helping online sellers to lure
market in India. Such discounts if offered by an online seller, its customers to visit their websites/app again and again].
for a limited period of time or on a specific occasion such as a Consumers will have higher intention to purchase in web
festival are termed as flash sales [14]. shopping; purchasing decisions and choice making among
alternative evaluations based upon the promotional offers [32].
Flash sales help online e-commerce sites to grow at a higher Flipkart, Amazon &Snapdeal have evolved with a trend to
pace as they encounter huge sales of products, along with higher
launch flash sales India prior to the major Hindu festival sale is launched Berezina; Semrad; Stepchenkova; Cobanoglu
i.e. Diwali. Flipkart with its Big Billion Day, Amazon with its (2016) [19] have studied about the benefits, drawbacks, and
Great India Sale &Snapdeal with its Unbox Diwali Sale have performance measures of hotel room inventory distribution via
been the most prominent flash sales in India from past many flash sales websites. Khanna; Sampat, (2014) [38].have tried to
years. The flash sales websites of businesses have grown understand the positive and negative factors influencing the
exponentially since 2009, with a 368% increase in monthly online shopping in India during the festive season. Agarwal;
market share. Also half of the purchases occur during the first Sareen,2015 [39] in their study depicted how flash sales help in
half hour of the flash sales [33]. The more successful flash sales attracting customers to visit the web site and encourage them to
are those that don’t last very long and 50% of purchases occur buy products based on the deals and services offered.
during the first hour of a flash sale.
Some of the most important tools used by e-retail platforms for Studies on flash sales have been conducted in various industry
heavy promotions during festive flash sale seasons include: verticals but very few studies have been conducted on
understanding the impact of Flash sales with respect to sales,
 Discounted products: More discounted products than revenues, website traffic and logistics etc. of Indian E-
normal days. The discount is attractive for the customer. commerce industry. Hence the objective of the paper is to paper
 Free Shipping/Free Returns: Incorporating shipping cost is to understand the impact of flash sales as a sales promotion
into the product generates a security inside customer that tool on revenues, sales, traffic and logistics of 3 major
he won’t lose out anything if he had to return the product. Ecommerce platforms of India i.e. Flipkart, Amazon and
Walker Sands Info graphic reports that 80% of the online Snapdeal.The study also focusses on the role played by sales
consumers would be more tempted to go for Amazon, if promotion done in case of flash sales in attracting customers
offered free shipping; next day delivery would attract 66% and generating sales on Website/ App
more customers.
 Extra Cash back with Bank tie ups: Amazon, Flipkart, III. OBJECTIVES
Snapdeal during flash sales attract more consumers by
providing extra discount apart from the running discount The objective of the research paper is to understand/analyse the
during flash sales, by getting attached to major banks of impact of flash sales on revenues, sales, traffic and logistics of
India like SBI, HDFC, Axis, wherein they offer extra 3 major Ecommerce platforms of India i.e. Flipkart, Amazon
discount of 10-20% on purchase of minimum amount of and Snapdeal.
products.
 Different day for different category of products: In order to meet the above objectives, the following research
Assigning separate day for major categories which include questions were considered for study:
Fashion, Home & Appliances, Mobile & Mobile
Accessories, Electronics & Automotive and Books & More A. Research Questions:
helps the consumer shop easily on that assigned day, leading
to more purchases. This pattern has been followed by all  Do flash sales affect the revenues of an ecommerce
three major e-tail platforms Flipkart, Amazon &Snapdeal company?
[34].
 Do flash sales affect the sales of an ecommerce company?
The concept of flash sales has been analysed in various
industries in the form of prior studies done in those fields Prior  Do flash sales affect the website traffic of an ecommerce
research done in case of flash sales among various industries company?
indicates that customers act in a positive manner towards a price
promotion because it is able to generate positive feeling among  Do flash sales affect the logistics of an ecommerce
them. [27] Consumers are able to explore new products, company?
wherein they tend to exhibit a favourable attitude towards price
due to their perceived monetary savings reducing effort in
purchase decisions and increase value perceptions [27].Flash B. Research Methodology
Sales in case of fashion industry has been studied by Kim and
Martinez (2013) [13] in which they have analysed the shopping A detailed secondary research was conducted from different
behaviour of shoppers on private sales sites. Flash sales in newspaper articles, magazines, research papers, reports and
luxury products has been analysed by (Ayadi et al., 2013) [12], journals from year 2010 to 2016. By studying flash sales of 3
wherein they try to focus on the control mechanisms of major online retailers viz Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon, from
consumers during shopping on private sales sites. Flash sales in year 2010 to 2016, the paper tries to analyse the impact of Flash
Tourism has been done by (Dev and Falk, 2011) [35] where sales on E commerce companies with respect to sales, revenues,
they study the benefits of such promotions; and Sigala (2013) website traffic and logistics.
[36]. In their study tried to analyse how to maximize the
benefits of using online coupons. Flash sales in Hotel industry Below are hypotheses and proofs of the analysis on various
have been studied by (Piccolo and Dev, 2012[8].Kannan; Hu; factors that the E- commerce industry should consider while
Narasimhan (2015) [37].have studied the impact of social strategizing flash sales.
media activities on sales. The paper emphasized on how flash
sale promotions increase average daily sales on the designer’s 1. Hypothesis 1: Flash sales help to increase the revenues for
primary website by up to 0.8 units in the first week after a flash Ecommerce companies.
 For e-commerce companies, the festive month of Diwali in case Flipkart managed to earn around Rs. 600 crores just from the
of flash sales accounts for 30-40% of a complete year’s sale. maiden launch of Big Billion Days sale in 2014. [47]
According to E-commerce division of Google India the Diwali
sale results in 2.5 to 3 times increase in revenue each TABLE II. FLIPKART -THE BIG BILLION DAYS
year. Online retail revenue in India’s top seven cities is likely
to grow more than 10 times from $1.2 billion in 2014 to $14 Name Of The Flash
Year Revenue
billion in 2019. [65] Sale
2010-
50 Crores Not Launched
Analysis: Below is the analysis done for revenue parameter for 2011
the big three E-commerce companies in India. 2011-
500 Crores Diwali Sale
2012
 Amazon: Amazon made rapid growth in just 3 years of its 2012- 2000
Diwali Sale
launch because of festive sales. 2013 Crores
2013- 2846
Big Billion Days
In 2014, Amazon saw a growth in multiples of the year’s 2014 Crores
festival season, as it added 40,000 products a day [40]. Sellers 2014- 10,309
Big Billion Days
saw 8-10 times growth in 2014 Diwali compared to that of 2013 2015 Crores
with the one crore club-sellers making more than ₹1 crore of 15,129
sales from 2014. Diwali sale- grew more than eight times and 2015- Crores
the 10 crore club grew more than 11 times. Big Billion Days
2016 (43 %
In 2015, over 65% orders that were placed during Diwali sales Increase)
came from tier II and tier III cities and towns from numerous
category of available products during that sale [27, 41]. Also
there was a 400% increase in the number of new buyers to In 2015, the firm said goods worth $300 million (Rs.2000
www.amazon.in, than on daily basis. Majority of new buyers crore) were sold during the five-day sale from October 13 to
were from tier II and tier III geographies of India [42].Also October 17, 2015 reported by Economic times. [48]
during 2015 Diwali sale 70% of the orders coming through
mobiles. [40]. According to the Registrar of Companies, In its 2-6 October Big Billion Days of 2016, Flipkart sold 15.5
Amazon Seller Services registered a six- fold increase in sales million units and ranked in sales of about Rs3, 000crores [49].
to Rs 1022 crores in 2014-15 from Rs 169 crores a year earlier. Flipkart grew 135%, on average, year-over-year in every
[39] quarter of 2016[49]. The first five minutes of the Big Billion
Days sale of 2016 saw highest number of concurrent users on
In 2016, Amazon sold 15 million units in the 5 days of its Great the website, indicating that the consumers were greatly
Indian Festival. [43] 80% of the traffic on Amazon during the enthused and were waiting for the sale, to corner the best deals
flash sale was from mobile devices such as phones and tablets on offer [50]. Flipkart also stated that there was 10x more than
and unit orders grew by 7 times over last year's sale of 2015 the response on any other normal day. Also, according to the e-
[44]. It also posted 5times growth in customer acquisition, with retailer, this was the highest ever in Flipkart’s history [50].
70 percent of new customers coming from tier II and tier III
geographies [45]. It also has claimed to have sold 1 lakh product  Snapdeal: Diwali sales played a major factor in multiplying
units in first 30 minutes [46]. revenue of Snapdeal from 2013 onwards

TABLE I. AMAZON -THE GREAT INDIAN SALE In 2014, Diwali sales of Snapdeal were called as ‘Snapdeal
Diwali Bumper Sale’. The company is promised over 100 offers
every hour across 500+ categories that year. The online retailer
Year Revenue Name Of The Flash Sale in 2014 offered special discounts on electronic items, including
a buy 1 get 1 free promotion. [51]
2010- Not Present
Not Launched
2012 In India In 2015, ‘Unbox Zindagi ’was 1st launched by Snapdeal.
Snapdeal revenues during the period (2015-2016) saw a drastic
2013- Rs.169 increase that year i.e. the revenues jumped over 400% to Rs.
The Great Diwali Sale
2014 crores 937.69 crore from Rs 168.16 crore, largely by the launch of
2014- Rs.1022 seasonal flash sales that year [52]. In FY15, Indian e-commerce
Diwali Dhamka Week
2015 crores players were engaging in a fierce online battle with each other
2015- Rs.2275 in all perspectives, offering competitive discounts on flash
Great Indian Diwali Sale sales. [53]. According to Snapdeal it sold products worth $100
2016 crores
million on the single day of Monday electronic sale, that took
place on 12th October 2015 a day before the Diwali sale was to
 Flipkart: Flipkart became the top charter of Indian e-tail start. [54]
after launching Big Billion Day
In2016, Snapdeal’s sales volume grew by nine folds during the
In 2014, after a great hype of the Big Billion Day for the first Unbox Diwali discount offer, with 37 sellers on its platform
time, Flipkart managed to increase its sales on October 6, 2014. crossing Rs. 1-crore turnover mark each, on the first day itself
of the sale [55]. Sales volumes surged nearly 9x of average daily
sales. Snapdeal witnessed more than 80 per cent of orders In 2014, the site of Flipkart got crumbled due to increased load
coming from its mobile platforms [55].Snapdeal’s Unbox throwing random errors. Huge numbers of buyers were not
Diwali Sale in 2016 saw 40 percent more women shopping getting order confirmation after making payments and some
online as compared to the previous year. Over 50 percent of were even not able to see items they added to their shopping
orders were prepaid in the sale. More than 75,000 sellers cart. The consumers shared their grievances on social
received multiple orders during the sale and traffic from tier II networking website, Twitter, Facebook. [57]
and III cities went up 20 times over the previous year [56].
In 2015, nearly 1.5 million customers ended up buying from
TABLE III. SNAPDEAL UNBOX ZINDAGI Flipkart. [57] This lead to stocks run out quickly, cancellations
went high, website could not take the traffic and the ware house
Year Revenue Flash Sales got cluttered.

2010-2011 NA Not Launched  For Amazon

Rs. 150 crores In 2014, Amazon India website crashed as soon as the sale
2011-2012 Not Launched
expected opened at 7 am. The visitors, who were expecting a better deal,
were treated to poor deals, thus creating a bad experience for
the consumer. [58]
2012-2013 Rs 600 crores Not Launched
In 2015, Amazon experienced site crash when 3 lakh of its
registered users tried to buy the version of Xaomi phones
Rs. 168.29 Diwali Bumper online. Due to heavy traffic the website experienced failures,
2013-2014
crores Sale such that customers reacted on social media site.

Rs 937.69  For Snapdeal

2015-2016 Unbox Zindagi
crores
In 2014, Snapdeal’s payment checkout page did not work. The
mess-up evoked the ire of hundreds of online shoppers, who
took to social media to accuse the e-tailor of cheating them in
Conclusion: the name of a 'big sale’ [59]
Thus, based on the data above, if we analyse the revenues of the Over the traffic on all 3 websites was as follows in 2016 flash
3 ecommerce companies for past 4/5 years, it can be inferred respective flash sales. [60]
that flash sales make a positive impact in generating heavy
revenues for these web portals during flash sales. We can see TABLE IV. TRAFFIC ANALYSIS
that the revenues for Amazon have increased from Rs169 crores
in 2013-14 to Rs 2275 crores in 2015-16. (Refer Table I). The
revenue for Flipkart has increased from Rs.500 crores in 2011- Flipkart Amazon.in Snapdeal
12 to Rs.15, 129 crores in 2015-16 (Refer Table II).. The
revenue for Snapdeal has increased from Rs 150 crores in 2011- Traffic 56% 29% 15%
12 to Rs 937.69 in 2015-16 (Refer Table III). Hence the
Hypotheses 1 gets proven which states that Flash sales help to Daily visits 9.1 mn 12.8mn 3.7mn
increase the revenues for Ecommerce companies.
Avg. visit
duration 9min 9.4min 7min
Pages per
2. Hypothesis 2: Flash sales causes high traffic loads and visit 10 13 6
leads to website slowdown

Analysis: When a Flash sale is announced people wait for the Thus the more the customers coming in, the more traffic is
day of sale to avail the offers on variety of product. To get the generated and causes the website to slowdown.
offers first -a huge load of customers hit the website and browse
for better and better deals. Due to this, load is generated on FIG I. AVERAGE TRAFFIC ANALYSIS
website – which cannot handle the pressure to manage multiple
user requests at a time. This causes the website and App to shut
down for specific period until the website gets up and running
fine.

Web-site slow down and even crash is seen on a major e-

commerce websites during flash sales. When the website is
down or crashed - the sales are ‘zero’ and no revenue is
generated for that specific time.

 For Flipkart
 The result of these past discount strategies, combined together,
reflected the GMV is expected to grow at CAGR of 50% to 60%
Amazon.in by 2020. [61]

 For Amazon.in-
Snapdeal
In 2015,Amazon came up with ‘Curtain Raiser Deals’, where
users can choose between two groups of products - the one with
Flipkart the most votes will go on sale for more time such that more
customers would buy the same. Amazon provided a platform to
introduce new phones such as Motorola MotoE, Xaomi’s newer
0 20 40 60 80 phones on discounted prices. Amazon came up with new add
Traffic in millions (Avg traffic in year strategy ‘AurDikhao, AurDikhao’ (show me more products)
2015) which had discount priced offers in the newer products. [62]

The result of these past discount strategies reflected in total

GMV of 15.5 million units sold during flash sales of 2016,
which was highest from all past year sales. [63]
Conclusion:
 For Snapdeal-
From the above analysis, we can see that the year on year the
consumers’ base going online to buy products is increasing. In 2015, Snapdeal came up with strategies to win customers
This consumer penetration can be easily tracked by the mobile with contests introduced such as ‘Vote and Win’, ‘Wish and
and internet penetration in India. As the number the users using Win’ and ‘Unbox Zindagi’. This was done over a period of time
the website and app increases the load on the website increases during the Flash sales so that more customers would visit site
and thus causes the website malfunction and leads to website and buy their products. Other offers given were ‘Deal of the
crash. Hence the Hypotheses 2 is proven which states that Flash Day’, ‘Promo Code’ offers, ‘End of Season sale’ to attract
sales causes high traffic loads and leads to website slowdown customers. The GMV for Snapdeal jumped to a whopping
301% in August 2015.

Conclusion:
3. Hypothesis 3: Discount strategies lead to more sales of Based on the above analysis, we can infer that discounts were
products the major reason why consumers buy online or offline. Also as
mentioned in the analysis, the GMV figures for all the 3
Analysis: Flash sales come up with huge discounts on products
companies show huge amount of increase. Hence the
and these discounts are time bound. There are deals on products
hypothesis 3 which states that Discount strategies lead to
with discount up from 15% to 20% via Citibank, Axis Bank and
more sales of products stands proven.
other banks. Flash sale deals for purchasing a wide range of
product from several categories. App Only Deals, Best Deals,
Big Billion Day Deals, Short Time Deals, bumper bonanza, a
4. Hypothesis 4: Flash sales leads to drastic increase in
super-deal season are available for consumers. Deals to cost-
logistics support
conscious consumers are provided, usually over a period of
five-day event to fend off competition by different E-retail Analysis: Logistics during the flash sales need to be FAST-
platforms. from start to finish. This is targeted to from the 3-layer approach
for logistics i.e. Fast picking, Fast packaging and Fast Shipping.
The total products sold from a particular e-commerce websites
A strategy developed by many companies is delivering directly
given in GMV (Gross Merchandise Value). Below is the
from truck to customer premises instead of keeping it in
analysis for the top three firms how discounts have led to more
inventory. This helps in faster delivery of products than the
sales:
estimated time. Due to vast Indian geography and taxes and
tolls the issue of delivering products on right time becomes
 For Flipkart- issue, so companies tie up with logistics support and courier
services.
In 2015, Flipkart has used time based ‘Your Wish, Our Offer’,
which was coupled with a list of products a customer’s wished  For Flipkart-
to buy. Flipkart came up an idea ‘Buy now pay later’ which
helped customers do all the festive shopping now and play the Flipkart hired 10,000 temp staff for Big Billion Days sale. It
bills on a later date. The most innovative idea introduced by extended its arm to e-Flash for faster delivery of products [64].
Flipkart was Re 1 flash sale on the most expensive products, Flipkart’s logistics partner -Ekart had decided to spend more
which saw more customer traffic than usual and customers than USD 2.5 billion on warehouse and logistics [65] Cash on
willing to buy more from the website. [49] delivery (COD), Fulfilment processed model are one of the kind
started by Flipkart for faster delivery from its shipping centre.
The increase in logistics has even covered tier II and tier III
cities, which is depicted in the annual revenue. Thus, the load REFERENCES
on logistics has increased but this has added hugely to the
company’s profits [65]. [1] Business Standard (June 2016), “India outshines US in
internet user base: Study”, Article appeared on June 3, 2016,
 For Amazon (Accessed on 31st Jan 2017) http://www.business-
standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-outshines-us-in-
Amazon has started with Amazon Transport Services (ATS) internet-user-base-study-116060200218_1.html
Private Limited. Amazon has 23 fulfilment centres and the
largest storage space among e-commerce firms, but the [2] Nasscom-Akamai Report Technologies Report (2016),
company uses its logistics to carry out orders booked only on “NASSCOM –– AKAMAI Technologies Report Showcases
its flagship outlets unlike some of the other players. Amazon How Internet Is changing India-One Connection at a Time”
has one day and two-day delivery in more than 100 prime cities. August 17th, 2016, (Accessed on 31st Jan 2017)
[66] http://www.nasscom.in/sites/default/files/Article_News/PR_N
ASSCOM_AKAMAI_Rise%20of%20Internet_17082016.pdf

[3] Business Insider (March 2011), “4 Reasons E-Commerce Is

 For Snapdeal- Set To Boom in India” Article appeared on March 30 th 2011,
Accessed on 31st January 2017.
Snapdeal witnessed a nine-fold increase in traffic with 37 major http://www.businessinsider.com/4-reasons-e-commerce-is-set-
sellers crossing more than Rs 1 Cr turnover. The more volume to-boom-in-india-2011-3?IR=T
increase was seen in 2tier and 3tier cities. Other major deals
from where most of the shipment was carried out was Mizoram, [4] Iamwire (2014), “E-Commerce in India – Past, Present &
Meghalaya, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir Future” Article appeared on 7th March 2014, Accessed on 31st
[55] January 2017, http://www.iamwire.com/2014/07/e-commerce-
in-india-past-present-future/27805
Conclusion for hypothesis: From the above analysis we can see
that the logistics support has increased drastically during flash [5] Business Standard (February 2015), “5 factors that will
sales. drive e-commerce growth”, Article appeared on 13th February
Hence the hypotheses 4 which states that Flash sales leads to 2015, Accessed on 31st January 2017. http://www.business-
drastic increase in logistics support stands proven. standard.com/article/companies/5-factors-that-will-drive-e-
commerce-growth-115021201785_1.html
IV. CONCLUSION AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
[6] Forrester Report (March 2016), Article appeared on “Asia
This research paper provides the analysis of Festive Flash sales Pacific Ecommerce Market to Reach US$1.4 Trillion in 2020”
for Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal over a past few years. The Article appeared on 4th March 2016, Accessed on 31st January
study and the analysis indicate that flash sales help e-retail 2017.
industries to increase their revenues multifolds, each year. Also https://www.forrester.com/Asia+Pacific+eCommerce+Market
flash sales help highly competitive e-retail platforms to survive +To+Reach+US14+Trillion+In+2020/-/E-PRE8924
in the growing industry of online shopping. With the launch of
flash sale each year these e-retail platforms are seeing rise in [7] India Retailing .Com (2016), “Online shopping trends: Facts
their website /app traffic which sometimes leads to slowdown & figures on Indian e-comm sector”, Article appeared on 30th
of their services on the day of flash sales. The backbone that August 2016, Accessed on 31st January 2016,
these e-commerce platforms use to survive during festive sales http://www.indiaretailing.com/2016/08/30/retail/online-
is heavy discount on products which in turn leads to high shopping-trends-facts-figures-on-indian-e-comm-sector/
number of sales recorded each year. Also with increase in
revenue each year, flash sales are also demanding these online [8] Piccoli G, Dev C (2012) Emerging marketing channels in
portals to increase their logistics support for better delivery hospitality: A global study of internet-enabled flash sales and
services and supply chain management. private sales. Cornell Hospitality Report 12: 4-19.

These flash sales are also very important for the management
of these online portals. Managers need to set their goals
realistic, keep the sale simple, choose a right date and time for [9] Sigala M (2013) A framework for designing and
it. Buying patterns from last year records should be analysed by implementing effective online coupons in tourism and
the management, so that the next sale gives more products that hospitality. Journal of Vacation Marketing 19: 165-180.
are customer centric. Active monitoring of each day sale should
be done and better engagement with the customers should take [10] Aday J, Phelan K (2015) Competitive advantage or market
place, as flash sales is the major way to increase revenue multi saturation: An in-depth comparison of flash-sale sites through
folds for these online e-retailers. content analysis. Journal of Hospitality Marketing and
Management 24: 287-313.

[11] Lee I, Lee K (2012) Social shopping promotions from a

social merchant’s perspective. Business Horizons 55: 441-451.
[12] Ayadi, N., Giraud, M., Gonzalez, C., 2013. An [27] Chandon, P., B. Wansink, and G. Laurent (2000). “A
investigation of consumers’ self-control mechanisms when benefit congruency framework of sales promotion
confronted with repeated purchase temptations: Evidence from effectiveness”. The Journal of Marketing 64 (4): 65-81.
online private sales. J. Retail. Consum. Serv. 20 (3), 272–281.
[28]Christou, E. (2011). “Exploring online sales promotions in
[13] Kim, S., Martinez, B., 2013. Fashion consumer groups and the hospitality industry”. Journal of Hospitality Marketing &
online shopping at private sale sites. Int. J. Consum. Stud. 37 Management 20 (7): 814-29.
(4), 367–372.
[29]Helsen, K., and D. C. Schmittlein. (1992). “Some
[14] Big Commerce (2015), “What are flash sales?” (September characterizations of stockpiling behaviour under uncertainty”.
3rd 2015), Accessed on 31st January 2015. Marketing Letters3 (1): 5-16.
https://www.bigcommerce.com/ecommerce-answers/what-are-
flash-sales/ [30]Morphis, G. S. (1978). “Load-factor pricing and the
lodging industry”. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant
[15] Blattberg, Robert C., Richard Briesch, and Edward J. Fox Administration Quarterly19 (3): 34-37.
(1995), “How Promotions Work,” Marketing Science, 14 (3)
(supplement), G122–32. [31]Susskind, A. M., D. Reynolds, and E. Tsuchiya. (2004).
“An evaluation of guests’ preferred incentives to shift time-
[16] Miller, Claire Cain (2011), “Brands Find That Flash Sales variable demand in restaurants”. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant
Online Are Useful as Marketing,” New York Times. Administration Quarterly 45 (1): 68-84.

[17]Ostapenko, N. 2013. Online discount luxury: In search of [32] W.C. May So, T.N. Danny Wong, Domenic Sculli, (2005)
guilty customers. International Journal of Business & Social "Factors affecting intentions to purchase via the
Research 3 (2): 60-68. internet", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 105
Iss: 9, pp.1225 - 1244
[18] LivingSocial. 2011. Living social Escapes celebrates a
year of success on first anniversary. [33]Multichannel Merchant (2011), “Infographic: Flash Sales
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/livingsocial- Become Virtual Outlet Stores” article appeared on December
escapes-celebrates-a-year-of-success-on-first-anniversary- 21st, 2011. Accessed on 31st January 2017. ]
133607033.html (accessed on 31st January, 2017). http://multichannelmerchant.com/multichannelmerchant.com/
ecommerce/news/infographic-flash-sales-become-virtual-
[19] Berezina and Semrad (2015), “Advantages and outlet-stores-21122011/
Disadvantages of Using Flash Sales in the Lodging Industry”, J
Tourism Hospit 2015, 4:3 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2167- [34] The Indian Express Tech (2016), “Flipkart Big Billion
0269.1000161. Days, Snapdeal Unbox Diwali sale, Amazon Great Indian Sale:
The top offers”, Article appeared on October 2nd, 2016.
[20]Chang, C. (2009). “Effectiveness of promotional Accessed on 15th January
premiums: The moderating role of affective state in different 2017.http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-
contexts”. Psychology & Marketing 26 (2): 175-94. technology/flipkart-big-billion-days-amazon-great-indian-
sale-snapdeal-unbox-diwali-sale-what-to-expect-3055451/
[21]Cotton, B. C., and E. M. Babb. (1978). “Consumer response
to promotional deals”. The Journal of Marketing 42:109-13. [35]Dev, C.S., Falk, L.W., 2011. To Groupon or not to
Groupon: a tour operator’s dilemma. Cornell Hosp. Rep. 11
[22]Rothschild, M. L., and W. C. Gaidis. (1981). “Behavioural (19), 4–18.
learning theory: Its relevance to marketing and promotions”.
The Journal of Marketing 45(spring): 70-78. [36] Sigala, M., 2013. A framework for designing and
implementing effective online coupons in tourism and
[23]Taylor, G. A., and S. Long-Tolbert. (2002). “Coupon hospitality. J. Vacat. Market. 19 (2), 165–180.
promotions in quick-service restaurants: Preaching to the
converted?” The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration [37] Nattamai Kannan, KarthikBabu and Hu, Yu Jeffrey and
Quarterly 43 (4): 41-47. Narasimhan, Sridhar, Social Media, Flash Sales, and the Maker
Movement: An Empirical Analysis (July 25, 2016). Available
[24]Tietje, B. C. (2002). “When do rewards have enhancement at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2829855
effects? An availability valence approach”. Journal of
Consumer Psychology 12 (4): 363-73. [38] Khanna, Preeti and Sampat, Brinda (2015) "Factors
Influencing Online Shopping During Diwali Festival 2014:
[25] Buil, I., E. Martinez, and L. de Chernatony. (2013). “The Case Study of Flipkart and Amazon. In," Journal of
influence of brand equity on consumer responses”. Journal of International Technology and Information Management: Vol.
Consumer Marketing 30 (1): 62-74. 24: Iss. 2, Article 5. Available at:
http://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/jitim/vol24/iss2/5
[26]Winer, R. S. (1986). “A reference price model of brand
choice for frequently purchased products”. Journal of [39] Supriti Agrawal, S. AbhinavSareen (2016), “Flash Sales –
Consumer Research13 (2): 250-56. The Game Changer in Indian E-Commerce Industry”,
International Journal of Advance Research and Innovation, Accessed on 7thDecember
Volume 4, Issue 1 (2016) 192-195. 2016.http://www.livemint.com/Companies/9ec73NBnVWjxfd
s1f7t4FK/How-Flipkart-managed-to-score-big-with-Big-
[40] The Hindu Business line (2014), “‘The great Indian Billion-Days-sale.html
festival sales were bigger than our entire shopping season
2014’, Accessed on 15th January 2017. [50] The Financial Express Article (2016), “Flipkart ‘Big
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/the-great- Billion Days’ sale Day 1: Blockbuster event for e-retailer, sells
indian-festival-sales-were-bigger-than-our-entire-shopping- over 500,000 products in 1st hour”. Article appeared on 2nd
season-2014/article7830001.ece October 2016. Accessed on
7thDecember.http://www.financialexpress.com/industry/flipkar
[41] t-big-billion-days-sale-day-1-blockbuster-event-for-eretailer-
apple-watches-led-tvs-salesells-over-500000-products-in-1st-
[42]DNA (2015) article, “Rural India goes techy! Embraces hour/401546/
Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal this festive season”. Article
appeared on 23rd October 2015. Accessed on 15th January [51] Sify.com (2014), “Early Diwali for Flipkart, Snapdeal and
2017.http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-rural-india-goes- Amazon!” Article appeared on 6th October 2014. Accessed on
techy-embraces-flipkart-amazon-snapdeal-this-festive-season- 9th December 2016.http://www.sify.com/finance/early-diwali-
2137666. for-flipkart-snapdeal-and-amazon-news-ecommerce-
okglv7fgfdghi.html
[43]Livemint (2017), article, “Amazon says sold 15 million
units in five days of Great Indian Festival”. Article appeared on [52] The Financial Express Article (2016),”Snapdeal losses
February 6th 2017. Accessed on 6th February widen five times to Rs 1,319 cr in FY15”. Article appeared on
2017.http://www.livemint.com/Industry/f8Z5Gl0LIEuEbwqy 20th January 2016. Accessed on 9thDecember 2016.
APMJSM/Amazon-claims-15-million-orders-during-festive- http://www.financialexpress.com/industry/snapdeal-losses-
sales-says-P.html widen-five-times-to-rs-1319-cr-in-fy15/198448/

[44] Gadgets Now (2016), Article, “Online sales: Amazon, [53] First Post Article (2016), “E-Commerce war not over yet:
Flipkart, Snapdeal are not the only winners”. Article appeared Flipkart, Amazon to battle it out in run-up to Diwali”. Article
on October 4th 2016, .Accessed on 6th February appeared on 10th October 2016. Accessed on 9thDecember
2017.http://www.gadgetsnow.com/tech-news/Online-sales- 2016. http://www.firstpost.com/business/ecommerce-war-not-
Amazon-Flipkart-Snapdeal-are-not-the-only- over-yet-flipkart-amazon-to-battle-it-out-in-run-up-to-diwali-
winners/articleshow/54672209.cms 3043372.html
[45] PC Mag India (2016), article, “Amazon India sold over 15 [54] Gadgets 360 article (2015), “Snapdeal Diwali Sale Day
million units in Great Indian Festival Sale”. Article appeared on One Saw 'Record' Traffic, Sales”, Article appeared on 12 th
October 6th 2016. Accessed on 9th December October 2016. Accessed on 9th December 2016.
2016.http://in.pcmag.com/amazon- http://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/snapdeal-electronics-
india/108859/news/amazon-india-sold-over-15-million-units- monday-offers-lead-to-record-traffic-sales-751453.
in-great-indian-fest
[55] The Hindu Business line article (2016), “Snapdeal Unbox
[46]Gadgets 360 (2016), article, “Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal Diwali’: nine-fold sales volume increase on Day 1”. Article
Claim Massive Sales Numbers on Day 1 of Festive Sales” appeared on 3rd October 2016. Accessed on 9th December
Article appeared on 3rd October 2016. Accessed on 9th 2016. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-
December tech/snapdeal-unbox-diwali-ninefold-sales-volume-increase-
2016.http://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/amazon-flipkart- on-day-1/article9179939.ece
snapdeal-claim-massive-sales-numbers-on-day-1-of-festive-
sales-1469645 [56] Gadgets 360 article (2016), “Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal
Report Big Gains during Festive Sales”. Article appeared on 7th
[47] Gadgets 360 (2014), article, “Flipkart Big Billion Day October 2016. Accessed on 9th December 2016.
Sales Top Rs. 600 Crores in 10 Hours”, Article appeared on 6 th http://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/flipkart-amazon-
October 2014. Accessed on 9th December snapdeal-report-big-gains-during-festive-sales-1471574
2016.http://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/flipkart-big-
billion-day-sales-top-rs-600-crores-in-10-hours-602746. [57] Factor Daily Article (2016), “Flipkart’s Big Binny Days”.
Article appeared on 7th October 2016. Accessed on 9th
[48] The Economic Times Article (2016), “Flipkart makes one December 2016.
day record of Rs 1.4k crore in sales”, Article appeared on 5 th http://factordaily.com/flipkart_big_binny_days/
October 2016. Accessed on 9th December 2016.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small- [58] India.com article (2014), “Amazon India Diwali Dhamaka
biz/money/flipkart-makes-one-day-record-of-rs-1-4k-crore-in- Sale Flops as Website Crashes and Poor Discounts on Offer”.
sales/articleshow/54689114.cms ”. Article appeared on 10th October 2014. Accessed on 9th
December 2016. http://www.india.com/buzz/amazon-in-
[49] Livemint (2017), “How Flipkart scored big with Big diwali-dhamaka-sale-flops-as-amazon-india-site-crashes-poor-
Billion Days Sale” Article appeared on 18h October 2016. deals-on-offer-168956/
[59] The Time of India article (2014), “Snapdeal leaves [63] Firstpost.com” Flipkart still king of online retail; outsells
shoppers high and dry on sales day”. Article appeared on 12th rival Amazon with Rs 3,000 cr gross sales in 5-day event
November 2014. Accessed on 9th December 2016. “Accessed on 9th December 2016.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india- http://www.firstpost.com/business/flipkart-shows-its-still-the-
business/Snapdeal-leaves-shoppers-high-and-dry-on-sales- king-of-indias-online-retail-outscores-rival-amazon-in-festive-
day/articleshow/45116310.cms. sale-battle-3039064.html

[60] India Retailing.com article (2016), “Amazon’s Great India [64] The Hindu Business Line article (2016), “Flipkart to hire
Sale had highest traffic during sale period: Blue ocean Report”. 10,000 temp staff for Big Billion Days sale”. Article appeared
Article appeared on 18th October 2016. Accessed on 9th on 11thSeptember 2016. Accessed on 9th December
December 2016. 2016.http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/flipkart-
http://www.indiaretailing.com/2016/10/18/research/amazons- to-hire-10000-temp-staff-for-big-billion-days-
great-india-sale-had-highest-traffic-during-sale-period- sale/article9096950.ece
blueocean-report/
[65] Dailyo article (2016), “Big billion day Flipkart – Amazon
[61] The Economic Times (2016), “Annualised GMV for e- great Indian Festival” Appeared on October 4, 2016. Accessed
commerce firms in India dips 10% in Q2: Research firm”. on 9th December 2016.
Article appeared on 25thAugust 2016. Accessed on 9th http://www.dailyo.in/business/ecommerce-big-billion-day-
December 2016. flipkart-amazon-great-indian-festival/story/1/13237.html
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/a
nnualised-gmv-for-e-commerce-firms-in-india-dips-10-in-q2- [66] Tech. Economic times (2016) article “Amazon's new urban
research-firm/articleshow/53856237.cms fulfilment centre in Chennai to support Prime deliveries”.
Article appeared on 3rd August 2016. Accessed on 7th February
[62] Live mint article (2015), “The charm of ‘aurdikhao”. 2017.
Article appeared on 25thApril 2015. Accessed on 9th December http://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/amaz
2016. ons-new-urban-fulfillment-centre-in-chennai-to-support-
http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/BRLFbquOheyGFtODtqM prime-deliveries/53523273
YaK/The-charm-of-aur-dikhao.html

View publication stats