Google has shut down its Great Online Shopping Festival in India (GOSF). The company had started GOSF in 2012 as the Cyber Monday for India to encourage more Indians to shop online by offering them the best of deals across portals. "The pace of growth and the impact eCommerce companies are driving in India has gained significant momentum and we are very pleased that we were able to play our part in this journey in India. There were many learnings for us and the Industry on the whole but the time has come for us to bid adieu to the Great Online Shopping Festival. We will continue to invest in initiatives to empower small and medium businesses and work along with the Industry to make Internet a growth engine for the country," Google added in a blog post. In 2012, India had 130 million Internet users with only 8 million Indians shopping online, and the total online shopping Industry was approximately $2 billion. In 2015, there are more that 350 million Internet users in India and over 50 million shoppers with the size of the ecommerce industry pegged around $10 billion. "Today, India 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," Google said.…
