Online sales to witness 34% upsurge this festive season: Report

As the festival season begins in India from tomorrow, India’s e-commerce sellers are looking to cash in like every year, and more so this year, as a raging pandemic combined with a depressed economy will likely lead to a greater demand for safer online shopping and bargain hunting. 

According to US-based market research firm Forrester report, about 75% of the sales would occur from October 15 to October 21, the period during which Flipkart will hold its ‘Big Billion Days’ sale and Amazon its ‘Great Indian festival’ sale. 

The sales prediction is expected to be nearly $6.5 billion in GMV, a 34% year-over-year growth as compared to the last year figure. More than 55-60 million online buyers are expected to participate in the sale, the report said. 

“We expect a lot of demand in consumer electronics, home appliances, smartphones, and home furnishing to drive more sales during the festive month. We also expect an increase in share of purchase from tier 2 and 3 cities due to migration of employees to smaller cities as offices are closed,” said Satish Meena, a senior forecast analyst at Forrester. 

The report also highlighted that smartphones will account for 34% of all online spending during the festive season, followed by consumer electronics and computers at 17% and fashion at 16%.

According to the report, Flipkart will lead in smartphone and fashion categories as they will account for 50% of total sales during this period while Amazon will rely on Prime members. In 2020, Flipkart has launched 22 smartphone models since mid-September to maintain the lead whereas Amazon is focusing on its Prime members to buy in more categories and buy more frequently during this month.

Hurting from the Covid-19 induced pandemic, the festive season sales will be crucial for both Amazon and Flipkart. Amazon has recently received Rs 1,125 crore in internal funding and its arch-rival Flipkart has also completed a $1.3 billion external round from Walmart, Tencent and Qatar Investment Authority.

Another report by consulting firm Redseer said that the e-commerce gross merchandising volume or GMV could hit $7 billion during the festive season in 2020 out of which Amazon’s Great Indian Shopping Festival and Flipkart’s Big Billion Days are collectively expected to clock $4 billion in GMV.