E-comm players time festive sales with GST reforms

E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS are in a race against the calendar, rushing to bring their systems in line with the GST Council's newly announced slab rates before the season's biggest sales go live.

- ANEES HUSSAIN

The Council's decision on September 3 to streamline the GST structure into two key slabs of 5% and 18%, effective September 22, has triggered an all-hands effort across marketplaces. For companies like Flipkart and Amazon, the stakes could not be higher. Their annual sales spectacles — Flipkart's Big Billion Days and Amazon's Great Indian Festival — have become defining events, often contributing a quarter of yearly revenues within a few weeks of shopping frenzy.