Amazon Great Indian Festival to start October 8; company adds 176 centres, creates 1.6 lakh seasonal jobs

Amazon India on Sunday announced that its flagship Great Indian Festival sale will begin on October 8, kicking off the company's festive-season push with discounts, new product launches and expanded delivery capacity across the country.

The e-commerce major said customers will get deals across smartphones, electronics, televisions, fashion, beauty, home appliances, groceries and other categories, with 10% instant discount on SBI credit and debit cards and EMI transactions. Prime members will also get up to 10% additional benefits.

Amazon expands delivery network

The bigger business push, however, is behind the sale.

Amazon India said it has created more than 160,000 seasonal work opportunities across its operations network covering 400 cities ahead of the festive season. At the same time, the company is undertaking its biggest-ever operations network expansion, adding 20 new fulfilment centres, six sort centres and 150 new last-mile delivery stations.

The expansion is aimed at supporting faster and more reliable deliveries during what is traditionally one of the busiest periods for India's e-commerce industry.

Saurabh Srivastava, VP, Amazon India, said the Great Indian Festival brings together customers, sellers and brands for what the company described as the country's biggest shopping celebration.

“This year, customers across Bharat can look forward to the lowest prices of the year on crores of products, blockbuster deals, and exciting new launches,” Srivastava said, adding that products will be delivered within minutes, hours, same-day or next-day depending on location and availability.

Seller base crosses 20 lakh

Amazon said its India network now supports more than 1.7 million sellers, while its seller base has crossed 20 lakh, with more than 3 lakh sellers joining the platform over the past year.

The company is also leaning further into quick commerce through Amazon Now. The service, which offers deliveries within minutes, is currently available to millions of customers across more than 60 cities, including several non-metro locations.

Amazon said Amazon Now will be expanded to 100 cities before Diwali, with categories ranging from groceries and fresh produce to household essentials, personal care, fashion, beauty and small appliances.

AI enters festive shopping push

Amazon is also pitching artificial intelligence as part of the shopping experience this festive season. Customers will be able to use AI-enabled features to compare products, check price history and receive recommendations across product pages and search.

The company said its broader delivery network can now support tens of thousands of products delivered within minutes or hours, more than one million through same-day delivery and over four million through next-day delivery, alongside its Prime delivery network.