INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Flipkart and Amazon began their flagship annual sales on Saturday.BENGALURU: Walmart Inc-owned Flipkart and rival Amazon Inc said on Monday
they made record sales in the opening day of their annual festive season sales in the country that kicked off over the weekend.Flipkart and
Amazon began their flagship annual sales on Saturday, with both vying for customers during the October-December festive season when people
make most of their big-ticket purchases.This comes as growth slows in Asia's third-largest economy, denting sales of everything from cars to
cookies, and prompting the government to step in with tax cuts and a raft of other measures to revive growth.Amazon reported record sales of
about Rs 750 crore ($7.07 million) in 36 hours in the premium smartphone brands category, while Flipkart said all major categories,
including beauty, baby care, private labels and furniture, saw double-digit sales growth from a year ago in the first day.Both, the "Big
Billion Days" sale and Amazon's "Great Indian Festival", will finish on October 4, according to their websites.Amazon has successfully
grabbed a large chunk of the e-commerce space even though it entered seven years after Flipkart in 2014, winning over millions of customers
with its Prime loyalty programme, which gives users early access to deals during sales, free music and video streaming services.Earlier this
month, a leading trader body asked the government to ban the festive sales, citing that the deep discounts they offered was violating the
country's foreign investment rules for online retail.Both Amazon and Flipkart offer deep discounts on everything from clothes, smartphones
to home appliances ahead of festivals Dussehra and Diwali.Get Breaking news, live coverage, and Latest News from India and around the world
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