Festive season sale: Indian e-tailers generate Rs 150 bn in 5 days

In the five days festive sale period that ended October 14, India’s e-commerce marketplaces are estimated to have sold goods worth Rs 150 billion (approx $2.3 billion) according to market analyst RedSeer Consulting.

Led by giants Amazon and Flipkart, sales on online platforms grew by around 64 per cent, facilitated by higher than ever awareness about online sales. The results were, however, lower than RedSeer’s initial estimates of India’s online retail industry grossing between $2.5-3 billion this festive period.

During the festive sale period in 2017, online retailers had grossed an estimated $1.4 billion in sales, which represented a 43 per cent jump over the previous year. The higher growth this year comes on the back Flipkart having raised $16 billion from US retail giant Walmart which picked up 77 per cent stake in the Indian e-tailer.

“The industry witnessed a higher growth this time compared to last year. This was driven by multiple drivers, key being a larger shopper base from Tier-2+ cities. Affordability and loyalty schemes introduced by e-tailing players also played a huge role in converting the visitors into shoppers,” said Ujjwal Chaudhry, Engagement Manager at RedSeer.

While more people than ever shopped online during the five day sale period this year, schemes such as no-cost EMIs, big discounts facilitated by bank tie-ups and cashbacks played a vital role in boosting sales this year. 

Both Amazon and Flipkart, which are locked in a tussle to dominate India’s online retail space, spent millions building the infrastructure and backend processes to support the massive order volumes they see during the festive period. Each company has claimed they’ve witnessed sales in multiples of what they did last year, witnessing growth of categories such as large appliances, fashion and electronics.