Online sales to cross Rs 20,000 crore in this festive month: Report

E-tailers companies in India may sell more than Rs 20,000 crore ($3.3 billion) worth of goods during Diwali festive online sales.

After getting a positive response this year,  Amazon, Flipkart and Paytm Mall have queued in festive deals for consumer appliances and smartphones since Sept 20.

The total sales during the month will grow 50 percent over last year, according to Redseer Consulting, which tracks e-commerce sales.

Indian e-commerce companies sold $2.2 billion worth of goods in the 30-day festive period last year, the report added.

“Many shoppers have shifted their buying to online, attracted by the offers and greater convenience,” RedSeer said.

Furthermore, online sales were pushed by telecom major Reliance Jio with its 4G data services, which have enabled more people from smaller towns to come online and buy goods this year.

The report was based on a survey covering 9,000 customers, 1,000 sellers and third-party logistics providers and the use of 100,000-plus data points from e-commerce sites.

Since last year, India's online commerce market has seen a shift. Following Flipkart's revival during last year's festive sale, the company has been able to gain strategic investors which include Japanese investment firm Softbank, helping it to build a war chest of over $4 billion to take on rivals this year. Flipkart was declared biggest gainer of the sales.

Flipkart, which acquired ebay.in last month, had launched a global programme to enable its sellers to sell to customers worldwide in partnership with eBay.

Whereas Amazon, which has committed $5 billion investment in India, has claimed to strengthen its network, expanded into payments and grocery and focused on building a loyal subscriber base with its Prime membership programme.

Paytm Mall also to rub shoulders with major e-tailers, has been aggressive on investment in logistics and O2O model. During previous sales in Mera Cashback offer Paytm Mall offered 100% cashback on smartphones for 25 lucky buyers every day and a daily chance for 200 customers to win Paytm Gold.