Google extends GOSF 2013 till Saturday due to huge response, launch issues

Technology giant Google extended its mega event, Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) by a day after getting a huge response from shoppers with over a million users visiting the site in the first 24 hours.

The second edition of India's GOSF, which started yesterday, will now go on till Saturday instead of Friday.

E-commerce firms said even the initial problems faced by the GOSF site on its launch day has not doused the enthusiasm of the online shoppers and they are witnessing growing numbers on their platforms.

"GOSF is getting an overwhelming response from shoppers, despite a minor glitch we faced yesterday and to keep up the tempo and give more time to shoppers, we are extending GOSF by a day and will now run till December 14," Google India industry director e-commerce Nitin Bawankule told PTI. "GOSF's first edition last year witnessed over a million people visiting the site, but this time that number has already been surpassed," he added.

"The popularity can be gauged by the fact that Tata Value Homes sold 22 flats (housing units) and 3 cars have also been sold," Bawankule said.

GOSF's website faced issues on the launch day yesterday as the homepage of the website failed to redirect users to the intended pages.

"We're so sorry for the delay in the #GOSF launch. The site will be up soon and you can shop through the deals being offered until 13th Dec (sic)," Google India said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Despite the initials hiccups, e-commerce firms said that they are experiencing a huge response from shoppers. Over 200 partners are participating in the event.

"GOSF 2013 has started off with a blast on Snapdeal. We have seen 10x increase in sales as compared to last year," Snapdeal.com VP (Marketing) Sandeep Komaravelly said.

Similarly, Jabong co-founder Manu K Jain said from that Jabong was seeing a phenomenal increase in traffic and sales from the first day. "Revenue has increased 4-5 times more than a usual day. Coping up with the increasing traffic our IT team is working very hard to keep the website from crashing," he added.

Myntra CEO Vikas Ahuja said: "We are seeing very positive results so far on Day 1. Our traffic has grown approximately 2 times, and revenue growth is 3.5 times, versus the preceding few days."

eBay India e-commerce evangelist Deepa Thomas said that last year the site witnessed a significant jump in first time buyers during the online shopping fest, which is eBay's key expectation this year too.