Amazon outruns Flipkart in growth, claims 1.5X GMV growth over local rival

While business for e-commerce majors Flipkart and Amazon has grown at a quick pace, Jeff Bezos-led company appears to have outrun Flipkart in the quarter ending September (July to September).

Flipkart reported 85% year-on-year growth in gross merchandise volume (GMV) in the aforementioned quarter, a significant 15-20 up from the previous quarter.

Amazon registered 72% year-on-year growth in GMV for the September quarter, a significant 13% growth from the preceding quarter. The development was reported by The Economic Times. 

Meanwhile, Naspers, one of the backers of Flipkart had observed a jump of 43% in gross merchandise value (GMV) for the six months ended 30 September. The two different growth numbers for Flipkart have given Amazon India a chance to claim higher growth numbers than the local rival.

Citing sources, the report mentions that Amazon claimed much faster growth than market and Flipkart as well. The company claims 1.5X growth over Flipkart.

“(Naspers’) report actually refers to the January-June period and… has a lag of three months, so the comparison isn’t like-for-like or relevant.  We saw growth in mid-80% for (the September quarter) across all categories, with GST having a positive impact,” said Flipkart chief financial officer Sriram Venkataraman to ET.

Last month, Amazon announced that it witnessed over 105% growth in revenues in India in the fiscal year 2017.

During the festive season, Flipkart’s share of sales increased to 50 per cent from 45 per cent last year, capturing much of the market.

On the other hand, Amazon’s market share during the festive sales period that has stretched about a month is estimated to have remained unchanged at 35 per cent, though the company said it saw a 50 per cent share in other metrics like order volume and active customers.

According to a report by Counterpoint Technology Market Research, Flipkart’s share of the smartphone category slipped to 50% from 57% in the March quarter. Meanwhile, Amazon India’s share of the category rose to 33% from 27% during the same period.