At the stroke of midnight, live dashboards lit up simultaneously across Amazon India's World Trade Centre headquarters and Flipkart's Outer Ring Road office in Bengaluru.
In sprawling "war rooms" at both the companies, executives monitored real-time data streams tracking payment speeds, inventory levels, and delivery logistics as millions of shoppers flooded online platforms.
It was the start of India's festival shopping season, which is projected to grow 27 per cent to generate Rs 1.2 trillion in total sales.
The military-style command centres — complete with round-the-clock food service, wellness programmes, and category-specific monitoring stations—reflect how India's peak retail period has evolved into a high-stakes digital battleground.
Amazon's Great Indian Festival (AGIF) begins at midnight September 22 for Prime members, with the general sale opening September 23.
The company's "Action Ready" war rooms operate round-the-clock, with category-specific operations for smartphones, electronics, fashion and beauty running parallel to a central command centre coordinating technology, homepage management, and payments.
Executives explained that preparations run nearly a year in advance.
“Each space is equipped with live dashboards tracking traffic, sales, customer sentiment, and system health, enabling instant troubleshooting — from payments to deliveries,” said Saurabh Srivastava, vice-president, categories, Amazon India.
“With this powerful synergy, AGIF this year is shaping up to be one of Amazon’s most well-coordinated shopping events yet.”
About 30 km away from Amazon’s main office in Bengaluru, at the headquarters of Walmart-owned Flipkart on Outer Ring Road, there was a similar war room drill.
Thousands of Flipkart employees, or 'Flipsters', gathered to kick off the 12th edition of the company’s The Big Billion Days (TBBD) sale.
A key highlight was the simultaneous flag-off of a Flipkart Wishmaster (delivery agents) rally across the country.
Flipsters gather in large numbers in a range of ‘war rooms’ where teams work round-the-clock to ensure seamless business continuity, performance monitoring, and customer support.
This year, employee engagement focused on Flipkart’s BBD being “timeless through the ages”, bringing together classic and new experiences.
“The BBD 2025 is shaping up to be our strongest yet,” said Pratik Shetty, vice-president, growth and marketing, Flipkart.
“Early momentum is unmistakable - demand for high-value categories such as electronics and large appliances is up, with the recent goods and services (GST) slab rationalisation acting as a strong trigger for upgrades.”
A typical 24-hour cycle inside the war room kicks off a few hours before midnight when the Amazon Great Indian Festival starts early exclusively for Prime members.
The first few minutes past midnight are the most intense — traffic peaks and dashboards light up.
Teams monitor sales, check on deals and fix issues.
To keep spirits high, war rooms are stocked with food, snacks, coffee, and energy drinks, while rituals and traditions add to the camaraderie — from high-fives when targets are met to friendly banter between categories and a quirky “wish list wall”.
Flipkart provides 24/7 food access, medical support with on-site doctors, and wellness programmes, including mandala art and meditation zones to maintain employee morale during the high-intensity period.
On-campus and online engagements, such as quizzes, music and entertainment evenings will keep the buzz alive throughout TBBD.
At online fashion retailer Myntra, preparations for the Big Fashion Festival (BFF), which is already live, began with a festive transformation of its offices.
There was also a fashion show with employees and delivery partners walking the ramp.
Behind the scenes, Myntra has established dedicated “war rooms” across business, technology, customer experience, and supply chain functions to enable real-time collaboration and swift problem-solving.
Govindraj MK, chief human resources officer at Myntra, said to support employee wellbeing during the high-pressure season, the company offers healthy snacks, 24/7 cafeteria access, nap pods, regular cab services, and on-call paramedic assistance.
Quiet zones like the Dhyan Kaksha and on-floor engagement activities provide space for recharge and relaxation.
Meesho’s Mega Blockbuster Sale, which was already running, was marked with colourful decorations and festival food at the office and colleagues in ethnic wear.
A Meesho spokesperson said the Mega Blockbuster Sale is a collective effort of thousands of employees, sellers and logistics partners, all working together to bring customers affordable, quality products and make festival aspirations a reality.
This year Amazon and Flipkart have expanded warehousing capacity by millions of cubic feet and extended delivery networks to thousands of new pin codes — an infrastructure buildout that could reshape India’s retail landscape for years.
Amazon said its differentiators this year are scale, speed, and selection.
Customers can explore lowest prices of the year on Amazon over a vast selection of over 100,000 products, deals and offers and over 30,000 new launches from the biggest brands including Samsung, Apple, Intel and Titan.
Prime members get free unlimited same-day delivery on over 1 million products and next-day delivery across 4 million products.
“This year, we expect to welcome millions of new customers, particularly from Tier-II and Tier-III cities, continue the premiumisation trend in categories like electronics and beauty, and deliver smiles across the country,” said Srivastava.
“Our aim is simple — to make AGIF 2025 our biggest yet, for both customers and sellers.”
The e-commerce companies are also scaling up their quick commerce operations.
Flipkart Minutes, the quick commerce (qcom) offering, is already enhancing customer experience through 10-minute deliveries.
With Flipkart Minutes, the e-commerce firm said TBBD would become the fastest shopping festival with millions of products delivered in just minutes.
Amazon has also expanded its ultra-fast delivery service Amazon Now, promising 10-minute deliveries of everyday essentials to customers in select parts of Bengaluru, Delhi, and now Mumbai.
At Flipkart, early indicators point to one of the strongest TBBD editions in recent years.
Categories such as fashion, beauty, mobiles and wearables have already seen strong growth in the run-up to the festival season, while appliances are also witnessing strong search intent.
Gen Z audiences are emerging as trendsetters, actively engaging with short-form video and live commerce, particularly in lifestyle and beauty.
Tier-II and III cities continue to show robust growth, with rising demand across premium and value segments.
“What excites us equally is the surge in demand from Tier-II and III cities,” said Shetty.
“Gen Z is fast becoming the pulse of festive shopping.”
The streamlined GST structure is expected to boost sales by 15-20 per cent as retailers pass on tax savings to consumers during the peak shopping weeks.
Rajneesh Kumar, chief corporate affairs officer at Flipkart Group, said Flipkart’s supply chain now touches over 21,000 pin codes, supporting local manufacturing ecosystems and economies.
“Our festival hiring has created over 220,000 additional jobs; and our commitment to GST compliance and digital-first practices reflects our belief in building a sustainable and transparent marketplace,” said Kumar.
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