Flipkart had to temporarily halt its grocery delivery services on Tuesday (October 10) as the homegrown e-commerce giant experienced an interruption in operations caused by a surge in user traffic.
This outage occurred during the annual ‘Big Billion Days’ sale, which commenced on October 8.
“Please come back tomorrow. We are overwhelmed by your response,” reads a banner displaying on the Flipkart Grocery segment of the Flipkart website and the app.
The development was initially brought to light by ET.
Amid India’s most festive period of the year, the top e-commerce giants, Flipkart and Amazon, initiated their annual holiday sales on October 8. These two companies, commanding over 90% of India’s e-commerce market, have been diligently capitalizing on the festive season.
Recently, Flipkart unveiled a new subscription plan called VIP, designed to provide users with perks like free shipping and discounts. In response, Amazon introduced a more affordable version of its Prime membership to stay competitive in the market.
Read More: Flipkart launches VIP membership to counter Amazon’s Prime program
Also Read: Amazon launches affordable Prime membership to compete with Flipkart’s VIP pass
Both companies have undertaken robust seasonal recruitment drives to meet the substantial surge in demand during the festive season. Flipkart and Amazon have announced the creation of 100,000 seasonal positions spanning various sectors to accommodate this increased demand.
As per the analysis by consulting firm Redseer, it is expected that the Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) will experience a significant increase of 18-20%, reaching INR 90,000 Crores. This marks a substantial leap from the INR 76,000 Crores recorded in the previous year.
The e-commerce sector is poised for a more robust holiday season this year compared to the previous one, with a projected sales increase of over 20%. This growth is primarily attributed to the anticipated 40% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) surge in the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) segment. Nevertheless, it is expected that average user spending will remain unchanged.
Based on the analysis, it is anticipated that the most significant contributions to this year’s festive season sales will come from Tier II and III cities and towns.
