5 reasons why GOSF 2014 deserves thumbs up

GOSF nicknamed as India’s very own cyber Monday came to an end on 13^th December 2014 after a continuous three-day shopping frenzy. The last three days not only delighted shoppers with some amazing deals but also gave the Indian ecommerce industry a big reason to cheer. GOSF 2014 got an overwhelming response and has exceeded expectations of Google itself as stated by Google India’s MD Rajan Anandan.

Here are 5 reasons why GOSF 2014 deserves thumbs up:

1. Glitch Free GOSF: There is nothing as frustrating for a shopper than to see the shopping site crash just when he is on the checkout page. One of the major reasons why GOSF 2013 did not meet expectations was because the official GOSF crashed for a couple of hours during the peak shopping time. GOSF 2014 did not witness any major glitches either on the official site (www.GOSF.in) or any of the shopping portals despite a high increase in traffic.
2. Rs 299 corner: Google in order to encourage first-time shoppers came up with Rs 299 shopping corner, which instantly proved to be a hit with shoppers. Many shopping portals like shopclues,Jabongetc witnessed an increase in traffic by more than 200%. Shoppers not only got a chance to shop for as low as Rs 299 but could also take the advantage of free shipping and Cash on delivery.
3. Benefited Smaller Websites: The industry which is still in its infancy needs every bit of support it can garner. GOSF 2014 provided a platform for shopping portals like Limeroad, Paytm, Zovi, Shopclues and American Swan where they not only witnessed an increase in traffic but also an increase in revenue. This was a much needed boost to smaller merchants who otherwise gets overshadowed by the big players like Flipkart, Snapdeal etc.

1. Amazing Platform for offline players: Offline retailers till now were wary of the growing clout of ecommerce industry suddenly realized that they could immensely benefit by adopting the hybrid medium of online and offline retail. A lot of offline retailers benefited from GOSF 2014. The biggest example was Tata Realty which bagged around 10000 flat bookings in a matter of just one day.
2. Getting more people to shop online: GOSF 2014 has clocked more than 7 million unique visitors as compared to 2 million visitors in the year 2013. The idea behind the inception of GOSF in the year 2012 was to encourage more people to shop online. With the increasing traction which GOSF is seeing year on year, it is a clear sign that GOSF is here to stay and very much on the right track.

 GOSF 2014 may not have given WOW deals which shoppers were fortunate enough to get in the year 2010-2012. But GOSF is providing the much needed support to the ecommerce industry which is all set to grow to about $20 billion by 2020.

 About the author:

Dev Dave, is currently working as the Asst Online Marketing Manager at DesiDime.com-India’s largest online shopping community to discover the best deals and coupons.