Ecommerce platforms including Flipkart and Amazon India have clocked $2.7 billion in the first four days of festive sales from October 2-5, according to estimates from RedSeer Consulting.
Going by the management consultancy, online commerce is on track to cross $4.8 billion of gross merchandise value (GMV) in the first week of festive sales this year.
The industry-wide data also includes social commerce and grocery platforms, RedSeer said.
Last year, the four days of the festive week accounted for 63% of the overall festive week sales; this year they accounted for roughly 57% of the projected sales.
“With the festive sales lasting longer than last year (9 days compared to 7 days) we are observing the customer demand being more spread out across the period than being concentrated in the first half of the festive week,” said Ujjwal Chaudhry, associate partner at RedSeer.
Smartphones remained top of the order for shoppers this festive season making up almost 50% of overall e-commerce GMV during the early days of the sale, RedSeer said.
With Flipkart also drawing its annual The Big Billion Days (TBBD) sale to a close on Sunday, the e-commerce major said that total premium smartphones sold during this year’s sale doubled.
It also added that lifestyle, electronics, books and general merchandise, home and mobiles were top categories for this sale event. Further, the home improvement category saw 80% growth since last year, with customers continuing to buy furniture and mattresses as work from home persists.
Flipkart also saw 55% new sellers during its Big Billion Days sale, with almost 10% of overall sellers on its platform witnessing three-fold growth in sales this year.
Snapdeal, which ran its Toofani Sale from October 3 to October 10, saw a 98% increase in overall sale volumes this year. It further stated that 60% of total orders on its platform came from Tier III cities. Further, the value of sales from Tier III towns also increased 74% from last year, Snapdeal added.
“With many more sellers from across India now participating in online sales, buyers now have access to an even wider range of products,” said a Snapdeal spokesperson.
For Flipkart-owned Myntra 45% of orders came from Tier II and III towns, with beauty, personal care and accessories being high growth categories on its platform. Amazon India did not respond to Mint’s queries until press time.
RedSeer had earlier said that the platforms will clock over $9 billion gross merchandise value (GMV) during the festive season which is a growth of 23 percent from last year.
With horizontal platforms rapidly scaling up their warehousing capabilities towards ensuring prompt delivery, the delivery time is expected to reduce by roughly five hours this year.
Further, over 75% customers are planning to buy equivalent to or more than last year across categories like mobiles, large appliances, beauty and fashion, according to a survey by RedSeer.
Growth of high ticket items are expected to be further supplemented by instant credit and affordability constructs including Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) schemes. Flipkart said a fifth of its customers buying large appliances opted for affordability payment constructs such as BNPL during the Big Billion Days sale this year.
Further, with easy credit and instant affordability, BNPL schemes are likely to account for 10-15% of sales this festive season, said RedSeer.
BNPL accounted for 4-7% of sales last year but is well-poised to command a higher share i.e. 10-15% of sales this year, according to estimates from the management consultancy.
