Google bids adieu to GOSF, as SMEs rue

Much to the chagrin of hundreds of small and medium enterprises  (SMEs) units across the country, Google on Tuesday made a calculated move by discontinuing its online shopping festival, the Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF).

GOSF, launched in December 2012 as India’s answer to the popular Cyber Monday sale of the US, really encouraged growing number of mCommerce and eCommerce followers in India to shop online by offering them the best deals across portals. It always began on the second Wednesday of December.

Interacting with Deccan Herald from Singapore, Industry Director (eCommerce, Local & Classified) Google India, Nitin Bawankule said India now has many flourishing and successful eCommerce companies and there are multiple deal days being hosted by various e-Commerce players delivering great value to shoppers across India.

“Users don’t have to wait for 12 months to get the best deals online, small and medium businesses no longer have to wait for www.gosf.in to find customers from all across India. Success of new categories introduced in GOSF like Real Estate and Auto have today become a norm, and both industries have embraced internet to sell directly customers,” he said.

“GOSF had deep impact in India on two fronts. It boosted consumer confidence to shop online and we created a platform where SMEs could trade. Since we have achieved both these via GOSF time has come for us to bid adieu,” he said.

Committed to SMEs

He reinforced Google India’s commitment to SMEs and its plans to strengthen them via GoogleMyBusiness, an initiative kicked off four months back. “We have brought on board 5,000 to 6,000 SMEs who do not have access to online sales medium across the country on this platform. By 2018, we will add 20 million SMEs to this platform. We are getting overwhelming response from the tier-3, tier-4, and tier-5 cities in the country,” he said.

When Google India embarked on its online sales festival, India had only 13 million internet users with barely eight million shopping online. The total online shopping industry was approximately $2 billion.

But here comes the question why Google stopped this festival when India has over 350 million internet users and over 50 million online shoppers? It is projected to reach 100 million by 2016 and the industry is already said to be worth over $10 billion.

According to some analysts, Google’s move comes from a strategic realisation that Google search won’t be your best bet when it comes to finding the best deals. “ECommerce players such as Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal have been faring exceptionally well with their app forays. We have seen Myntra announce its app-only sales initiative,” said an analyst.

But Bawankule firmly denied this. “Search will be the primary tool for any consumers to know about products and its sellers. Even with the emergence of app and eCommerce platform, search will play a pivotal role in consumer buying behaviour,” said Bawankule.