It’s the season of sales, but Flipkart and Amazon are not alone

While e-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon are offering huge discounts to lure customers into shopping more, brick-and-mortar retailers are also not far behind their online rivals.

Several of India’s leading offline retailers also start their own mini sales whenever these e-commerce sites start their sales, apart from usual offers on weekends.

Also read: Flipkart Vs Amazon! Sale war to begin with heavy discounts; here’s the deal

On the weekend that went by, Gap Inc, the fashion house from US, offered flat 60% discount with an additional 10% off on the purchase of five items in Bengaluru. Both Flipkart and Amazon have offered huge discounts during the last week, with their Big10 sale and Great Indian Sale, respectively.

Similarly, Lifestyle department store chain offered flat 30% off, while Aldo gave 25% discount and Tommy Hilfiger offered 30% discount on the purchase of two products.

Several other brands like Lifestyle, Aldo, Tommy Hilfiger, Scullers, Chemistry, Only, Aeropostale, and Forever 21, also offered discounts or other promotional offers in their stores.

"The ongoing sale is a response to online. They (brands and retailers) don't want to be left out," said Suresh Singaravelu, executive director of retail at Prestige Estates Projects, operating Forum malls in south India and the UB City luxury mall in Bengaluru. "Competition is now not just within the brands but within the channels too," he added.

With these offers, malls are seeing a jump in footfalls as well as gross turnover.

Retailers, however, are of the opinion that these offers are not because of ongoing sales on e-commerce platforms.

"Ours is neither a sale nor reaction to online sales. Ours is a specific category-led promotion, just for a day or 12 hours. Nothing beyond that," Vishnu Prasad, CEO of the Central chain, told ET. "Categories that we are promoting are footwear, handbags and sportswear. Other categories are not part of the promotion."

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