Large appliances, smartphones and consumer electronics have dominated the first leg of festive sales<\/a> on Amazon and Flipkart<\/a>, boosted by card discounts, exchange schemes and zero-interest instalment offers, top brands and company executives said. Brick-and-mortar retailers have also reported an uptick as brands have sought to keep prices similar on all channels.

The first 48 hours of Amazon's ongoing Great Indian Festival sale have seen the heaviest sales in seven years of operations in the country, a top executive told ET. Flipkart said that in two days sellers notched up as much business as they did in six days of the year-earlier sale. Brands such as Samsung, Apple and LG also reported their highest ever ecommerce sales in these two days, executives said.

“Sales have even exceeded our own pre-sales estimates both in terms of volumes and value of items sold, with 91% new customers coming from small towns,” Amazon India<\/a> vice president Manish Tiwary told ET.

The ecommerce surge hasn’t dented sales at the brick-and-mortar chains in the first two days, which also coincided with the first weekend of Navratri that heralds the start of the almost month-long festive season in India continuing till Diwali in mid-November. The festive season accounts for 35-40% of annual revenue for most consumer companies in India.

Leading brick-and-mortar retailers such as Reliance Digital, Vijay Sales, Sangeetha Mobiles, Great Eastern Retail and Arvind Lifestyle Brands said they have seen a pickup in sales over last year in the same period.

LG India vice president Vijay Babu said the ecommerce business has doubled over last year, while offline sales have grown 20% at the country’s largest appliance maker.

Marketers are optimistic that overall festive consumption has started on a positive note despite uncertain macroeconomic factors, job losses, salary cuts and the pandemic.

The government has also announced several measures aimed at boosting consumer spending.

Sales growth this weekend has been beyond expectation, said Nilesh Gupta, director of Vijay Sales, a leading electronics chain in Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad.

Great Eastern Retail director Pulkit Baid said consumers are buying more high-value products this year, leading to a 5-10% jump in billing values.