In a reflection of the intense competition in the e-commerce space between leaders Amazon and Flipkart, the companies have, for the first time, reshuffled the dates of their flagship annual festive sale events just days after publicly announcing them to consumers as well as sellers.

Both companies will now start their respective festive sales on October 3. Flipkart had earlier announced its Big Billion Days sale between October 7 and October 12, 2021, the time that Navratri begins. It is usually the period when consumers spend on purchases and when online and offline stores offer sales.

However, Amazon then announced its Great Indian Festival sale from October 4, preempting Flipkart's sale by three days. This prompted a change in Flipkart's schedule, where they moved the sale to October 3 as per an internal memo seen by CNBC-TV18, and on Sunday, Amazon announced that they too will hold the sale starting from the same date.

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This, however, has not gone down well with many consumers and is also concerning sellers, since it falls during the 'Shradh' period when consumers don't find it auspicious to make purchases.

Several people took to social media to say that they are not happy with the new dates, with some even stating that they will not participate.

Dont understand the logic of holding the biggest sale of the year during Shradh/Pitru Paksha.

@amazonIN @Flipkart #GreatIndianFestival #TheBigBillionDay more like #ShradhSaleWhat do you want to achieve? You guys wont care but I will not participate in this sale b4 7th oct.— Puneet Bali (@puneetsbali) September 26, 2021

I don't know why @Flipkart @amazonIN are starting their big sales in Shradh period? Even if I want to, I can't just go above few rituals which is considered important for our ancestors. No offense. But I am actually bit disappointed with this planning whosoever decided this.

— Aarindam Majumdar (@amajumdar9) September 26, 2021

Sellers are worried they will have to offer extra deals to rope in customers.

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"Deals are cut with big mobile brands who offer bigger preferential discounts to these e-commerce players leading to an unfair competitive practice with respect to offline sellers and small online sellers. This self-created hyper-competition by the two big MNC e-tailers puts extra pressure on product brands to offer extra deals, which is bad news for small sellers who are not offered the same deals, which is a matter of concern," said Abhay Raj Mishra, member and national coordinator, Indian Sellers Collective.

In a statement, Amazon said, "Our top priority remains customer trust and the interest of our sellers, especially the lakhs of small sellers and the tens of thousands of local shop owners across India. We continue to innovate for our partners, small businesses and customers, as they gear up for the upcoming festive season. The Amazon Great Indian Festival will now start from October 3, 2021, and as always, Prime members will have early access."

Flipkart did not respond to queries.

However, some market experts believe that there will not be a significant impact on sales.

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"People usually avoid buying big-ticket items such as homes and cars during Shradh. Since most consumers associate the Big Billion Days and the Great Indian Festival with a time of the best sales, they will shop even if it is during the Shradh month," a market analyst who did not want to be named, said.

(Edited by : Jomy Jos Pullokaran)