E-tailers do $4.6 billion in first week of festive sales

Amazon India accounted for 28% of the total GMV seen by the e-commerce platform during the first week of the festive sale.

Combined GMV this year was 23% higher than last year when e-commerce sales averaged about $3.7 billion for the first week. Moreover, e-commerce sales have increased this year despite offline establishments being open during the festive season.

The growth in e-commerce sales this year has been driven by new buyers moving towards the online shopping mode. The overall online buyer base has grown by 20% over the previous year, with Tier-II towns and cities accounting for over 61 per cent of people shopping during the festive e-commerce sale.

RedSeer said out of a total of 62 million people who shopped through online platforms this year, nearly 40 million were from Tier-II cities and beyond.

Amazon and Flipkart started their major festive season sales on October 2, which include early access for premium members.

In terms of category mix, smartphones continued to drive around 46% of the total GMV seen by the e-commerce platform. Redseer estimates show that fashion made a comeback this festive season, contributing 17% of total sales, as people stepped out of their homes.

RedSeer says that during the first week of e-commerce sales this year, mobiles will cost around Rs. ₹68 crores sold every hour.

“Fashion also saw demand as customers wanted to refresh their wardrobe, and the reach expanded to Tier-II customers in the form of a new affordable platform. However, this year the demand for other categories like home furnishing, home decor and furnishing has been less during the festive season.”