Google to discontinue online shopping festival
New Delhi, November 3
With online players like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal witnessing phenomenal growth in their Diwali sales, technology giant Google today said it is discontinuing its ‘Great Online Shopping Festival’ (GOSF) from this year.
Started in 2012, GOSF began as the Indian version of “Cyber Monday” to encourage Indians to shop online by offering discounts and deals across categories.
“Today, India has many flourishing and successful e-commerce companies and there are multiple deal days being hosted by various e-tailers delivering great value to shoppers across India.
“Users don’t have to wait for 12 months to get the best deals online, small and medium businesses no longer have to wait for www.gosf.in to find customers from all across India,” Google India industry director (e-commerce, local and classified) Nitin Bawankule wrote in a blog.
He said while there were learnings for the company and the industry with the GOSF, “the time has come for us to bid adieu” to it.
“Back then, India had 130 million internet users with only 8 million Indians shopping online, and the total online shopping industry was approximately $2 billion,” he said. — PTI
