Moneycontrol Pro Panorama | Festive frenzy

E-tailers are expected to garner sales worth Rs 90,000 crore this festival season, 18-20 percent higher than last year.

Dear Reader,

One of the most eagerly awaited shopping days for Indian e-tailers is happening right now. The initial response suggests that this is the best year ever for the two e-tailing giants – Flipkart and Amazon.

The Big Billion Days from Flipkart, which kicked off on October 8, had 91 million customer visits on Day 1. Amazon’s Great Indian Festival started on the same day and generated a record 95 million customer visits in 48 hours.

Flipkart, celebrating its 10^th edition of The Big Billion Days, saw a sevenfold increase in orders over daily transactions and significant growth in the Plus membership base. Amazon Pay UPI sign-ups grew the highest ever at 37 percent year-over-year since its launch. Amazon Prime members shopped more than 18 times in the first 24 hours of the early access sale (October 7) compared to average daily purchases.

According to Redseer Strategy Consultants, e-tailers are expected to garner sales worth Rs 90,000 crore this festival season, 18-20 percent higher than last year. The first two days of sales saw companies booking Rs 40,000 crore of orders.

These sales throw up some interesting data points on products bought and the key and growing markets in the country.

Amazon said more than 80 percent of its customers emerged from non-metro cities during the first 48 hours of Amazon’s festive sale. On the other hand, Flipkart received over 60 percent of its total orders from tier I, II and III cities during the early access and first day of The Big Billion Day sale.

Among the big cities, Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad accounted for the highest number of shoppers, followed by Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.

As for products, mobile phones, appliances, lifestyle, beauty and general merchandise, electronics and home were the top categories. Flipkart said lifestyle sellers on the marketplace experienced 10 times growth in orders placed compared to the pre-festive period, followed by furniture and electronics at eight and seven times, respectively.

OnePlus and Samsung remained the most popular smartphone brands, with more than 100 OnePlus smartphones being bought every minute in the first 48 hours of the sale on Amazon, 2.5 times more than in 2022. Amazon claims its Prime Members purchased over 75 smartphones per second in the opening hour.

Demand for tablets saw two times growth while those for laptops grew 40 percent over last year. Demand for large-screen TVs witnessed a record 260 percent growth. Amazon said customers shopped for one TV per second.

Another critical data point is that EMI-based purchases saw a 20-fold rise.

While the buyers are logging in to the websites of these e-tailers, sellers from across the country have also gained from it. Flipkart said over 65 percent of sellers on its platform hail from tier II and III cities. This year saw an increase in sales of over 35 percent from small and medium businesses within the initial 48 hours compared to the previous year. Women entrepreneurs and artisans showcased an extensive range of products and sold over 18 products every minute.

Amazon said this year saw the highest customer transactions and seller participation.

The e-tailer festival highlights the appetite of Indian consumers and the benefits the platform offers to sellers from small cities. Stock prices staying strong despite global turmoil has the backing of not only Indian investors but also consumers.

The global economy is resilient but limping (republished from the FT)

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