Google India has announced the second mega online shopping festival collaborating with all e-commerce players in India. The second edition of the ‘Great Online Shopping Festival’ will be on for three days from December 11 to 13, on a common platform offering best deals on the web. The company said it has got on board 200 partners for the shopping bonanza. Players collaborating will include e-commerce firms, telecom companies, auto companies, online travel sites, fashion labels, besides local and classified companies, among others.

The company said nearly fifty per cent of the buyers last year were first-time buyers.

In a statement, Rajan Anandan, V-P and Managing Director, Google India, said, “Great Online Shopping Festival is India’s version of Cyber Monday in the west and is an exciting platform to raise awareness and consumer adoption of online shopping in India. With over 200 million Internet users in the country, more and more people are opting to shop online and fuelling the growth of both large multinational and home-grown companies.”

Industry estimates suggest that there are close to 20 million online shoppers in India and it is estimated to grow to 50 million in next few years making it a $16 billion industry. It has roped in three new partners — Airtel, paytm and Intel , who will be the preferred partners to create awareness about online shopping and driver user participation.

meenakshi.v@thehindu.co.in