E-comm platforms make record festive sales of Rs 1 lakh cr, demand for luxury brands rise: Report

This year’s festive sales growth continues the steady pattern of 2023 (Rs 81,000 crore) and 2022

Ecommerce platforms raked in nearly Rs 1 lakh crore in sales in the month-long festive season that ended with Diwali last week, reported the Economic Times. A surge in demand from non-metro consumers, and binge buying in luxury brands boosted the sales.

Citing data from ecommerce consultancy Datum Intelligence, this year’s festive sales growth kept up the momentum of 2023 when sales reached Rs 81,000 crore and of 2022 when Rs 69,800 crore was mopped up.

Moneycontrol couldn't verify the report independently.

This year, more than half of the demand came in the first week itself which began on September 26 before Navratri, with goods of Rs 55,000 crore getting sold during Flipkart’s Big Billion Days and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival. Sales slowed down in the third week, before gaining pace again before Diwali week starting October 28.

Some Flipkart sellers achieved 40-50 percent on-year growth, while Amazon said over 85 percent of its customers were from non-metro cities, the report added.

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What is India buying?

Smartphone was the leading category this season, with online purchases accounting for almost 65 percent of all smartphone sales in this period, the report added.

Premium Android smartphones with artificial intelligence (AI)-led features saw robust sales, Flipkart said. Amazon recorded its highest year-on-year volume growth for smartphones, with tier II cities contributing to over 70 percent of these sales.

Passion for premium

Demand for top luxury and premium brands saw a sharp spike this season. “Demand for premium large appliances grew 30 percent over last year, while the fashion and beauty premium portfolio saw an over 400 percent surge vis-a-vis business-as-usual (BAU) in categories like watches, fragrance, K-beauty, jewellery, handbags, sportswear, luggage, and kids-wear,” the report stated, citing Amazon.