Amazon.in covers 98% pin codes in biggest first 48 hrs of shopping festival

Largest number of new customers shop first time on platform, 91% from smaller cities. Total iPhones sold in a day were more than iPhones sold in entire festive sale period last year

E-commerce giant Amazon has witnessed the biggest ever opening for sellers and brand partners during its flagship festive sale Great Indian Festival (GIF). The month-long event began on midnight of October 16 with early access for the Prime members and opened up for all customers on October 17. More shoppers and sellers participated in the opening 48 hours of GIF than any opening two days before.

“It has been our biggest 48 hours in the history of Amazon India, overall in terms of value and unit sales,” said Manish Tiwary, Vice President, Amazon India. “We have already got orders from close to 98.4 per cent of India's pin codes.”

The company said the largest number of new customers shopped for the first time on Amazon. They had access to over 40 million selections from small and medium businesses (SMBs). More than 1.4 million customers shopped during the lead up to GIF.

About 91 per cent of new customers came from smaller cities. Users experienced shopping in various vernacular languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. “The acceleration (of e-commerce in small towns) has been a positive surprise for all of us,” said Tiwary.

Prime members shopped more during Prime Early Access than on any other day. More than 66 per cent of new Prime member sign-ups during 'Prime Early Access' were from tier-2 and tier-3 cities and towns. These include Tawang and Changlang (Arunachal Pradesh), Mokokchung (Nagaland), Baran (Rajasthan), Pudukkottai (Tamil Nadu), Una (Himachal Pradesh) and Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh).

Over 1,10,000 sellers received an order on Amazon. About 66 per cent of sellers who received orders were from tier-2  and 3 cities such as Yadgir in Karnataka, Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu and Lakhisarai in Bihar.

“We are humbled how sellers, brands and ecosystem partners nationwide have come together during these unprecedented times,” said Tiwary. “We look forward to helping their businesses get back on track, and safely deliver (products).”

Top sold categories were smartphones, large appliances and consumer electronics with leading brands OnePlus, Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi making record sales.

Apple iPhone 11, Redmi Note Series, Redmi 9A, OnePlus 8T, OnePlus Nord and Samsung M31 Prime Edition were among the popular smartphones. Total iPhones sold in one day were more than the total iPhones sold in the entire festive sale period of last year.

“The GIF has already become the biggest days (of shopping) for Samsung mobiles in India,” said Asim Warsi, senior vice president, Samsung India.

Popular appliances were fully automatic top and front load washing machines, direct cool refrigerators, air conditioners, microwave ovens and dishwashers. Top-selling electronics were laptops, headphones, tablets, cameras and smartwatches. Customers also preferred selection across security cameras and drones.

Karigar sellers received an order from over 15,000 pin codes. Most popular products included 'block printed dohar' from Block Of India, Sambalpuri Sarees from Odisha Handloom and Women’s handloom kurtis from Star Fashion. 

Local Shops sellers also received an order from nearly 1,000 pin codes. Most popular products included Organic India Ginger Tulsi Turmeric Tea and Lifebuoy hand sanitizers.

“We were expecting more traffic with GIF but I had never thought it would lead to an 8X increase in sales,” said Mayank Mittal from GEIndia, a Delhi-based Local Shop seller on Amazon.in. 

Products such as women’s kurtis, sarees, casual tops, t-shirts and athleisure were popular in the apparel category. In health and hygiene categories, Savlon disinfectant sprays, Whisper sanitary pads, Chyawanprash, Dettol and Dove bathing soaps saw a spike. Interestingly, gaming consoles were also popular, as more customers are taking up gaming as a hobby.

Products such as treadmills in fitness essentials, grills, fertilizer and soil in Garden and Outdoors, Car care in Tools and Equipment categories were also popular.

In the run-up to the GIF, voice-activated artificial intelligence assistant Alexa answered over 100,000 requests from customers on the Amazon shopping app. It helped them navigate through various stores. 

Alexa also received its highest single-day requests of over 1 million to guide customers to their product searches, best deals, bill payments and music.

Amazon’s rival Walmart-owned Flipkart is also hosting its flagship sale event of the year, 'The Big Billion Days' (BBD), a six-day event which commenced from October 16.

With Covid restrictions playing a spoilsport for physical retail, e-commerce festive sales could cross the $7-billion mark, according to a report by research firm RedSeer Consulting. This is estimated to be 50 per cent more than what e-commerce players had garnered last year from these sales.

Highlights of the first 48-hours of Amazon’s Great Indian Festival:

. More shoppers and sellers participated in GIF sale than before.

. Customers had access to over 40 million selection from SMBs.

. Over 1.4 million consumers shopped during the lead up to the sale.

. SMBs had record sales with over 5,000 sellers clocking sales worth Rs 10 lakh.

. More new customers choose Amazon.in than ever; 91% were from small towns.

. Orders came from 98.4% of India’s pin-codes in 48 hours.

. Smartphones remained popular among customers.

. Brands like OnePlus, Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi made record sales.

. Total iPhones sold in one day were more than the iPhones sold in the entire festive sale period of last year.

. Voice-assistant Alexa received its highest single-day requests of over 1 million.