E-commerce companies see huge increase in holiday sales in cities | News

“Some of the early trends show an increase in demand for lifestyle improvement categories; and Tier II+ cities have shown growth in the run-up to this year’s holidays,” said Harsh Chaudhary, VP Growth at Flipkart.

Early trends from TBBD 2024 indicate that overall customer sentiment is good, with categories such as mobile phones, electronics, large appliances, fashion, beauty and household products enjoying the highest customer demand. Major metro cities such as New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru continued to witness rising demand in the first 24 hours of TBBD 2024. During the shopping festival, demand from customers from regions like Medinipur, Hisar, Berhampore, Bankura and Agartala also witnessed an increase in demand, to name a few. Customers looking to improve their lifestyle chose to purchase products such as ethnic wear, western wear, sports footwear, casual footwear and formal footwear, which saw an increase in demand during early access and the first day of The Big Billion Days.

With a range of engaging features such as Brand Mall, FlipInTrends and Spoyl, Flipkart claims to continue to serve diverse customer groups by offering personalized and trend-driven shopping experiences.

FlipInTrends experienced 10x growth, reflecting interest in curated and popular products as customers navigated the platform to discover the latest fashion and lifestyle offerings.

Shopsy, Flipkart’s hypervalue platform, saw a 70 per cent increase in customer visits and a 2.8 times increase in transactions compared to the pre-holiday season. Popular categories such as lifestyle, clothing, home and kitchen have doubled, while beauty and personal care have tripled.

TBBD 2024 saw an increase in the popularity of various app-based features designed to engage and enhance the shopping experience. Video trading and live trading saw the highest-ever non-mobile streaming viewership, with a 1.8x increase in viewing time compared to the pre-holiday period. Products purchased during the Live Commerce stream saw a 25x increase compared to the pre-TBBD period. Currently, 85 percent of Video Commerce consumers are young and 65 percent of customers are from tier II cities. This proves the growing popularity of interactive, real-time shopping formats.

Cleartrip saw a 2.5-fold increase in the overall number of users on the platform compared to the pre-Christmas period. Airline and hotel bookings saw a 3- and 4-fold increase, with Goa, Amritsar, Nainital, Varanasi and Mussoorie being popular destinations.

Fast trading

Flipkart is also seeing increasing demand for the electronics category in the newly launched Flipkart Minutes. In cities like Mumbai, 25 percent of all hyperlocal PIN electronics sales now come from Flipkart Minutes deliveries. In Delhi, this increases to almost 40 percent for PINs currently covered by Flipkart Minutes. Customers will also be able to avail Flipkart’s installation and after-sales services for major appliances and electronics when placing orders on Flipkart Minutes. In the first 12 hours of this year’s TBBD, the top-selling electronic devices on Flipkart Minutes were laptops, computers, tablets and desktop accessories.

Sellers transacting on Flipkart saw a significant increase in their business with more orders placed during Early Access and the first day of The Big Billion Days. Over 75 percent sellers on the market recorded a several-fold increase in the number of orders placed compared to the pre-Christmas period. Flipkart’s wholesale sales saw a 2x growth during the early access period of The Big Billion Days, led by a 3x growth in FMCG categories.

Meesho

Meesho, which launched its annual “Meesho Blockbuster Sale” on September 27, saw a 100 percent increase in first-day orders compared to last year and exceeded daily orders by more than 3 times.

In the pre-sale period, Meesho recorded around 1.5 crore app downloads, making it the most downloaded app on the Google Play Store. Nearly 6.5 crore customers visited the platform on day one, shopping across categories such as fashion, personal care and beauty, home and kitchen, and electronic accessories. Interestingly, an average of 506 kurtis, 376 sarees and 360 baby items were sold every minute at Meesho.

“We achieved a record feat by doubling the number of orders on the first day compared to last year. Moreover, the order volume at Meesho Mall has also increased by around 2.5 times in the last one year,” said Megha Agarwal, General Manager Business, Meesho.

At Meesho Mall, order volume increased by approximately 2.5 times compared to last year, with approximately 45 percent of these orders coming from first-time customers shopping at the Mall. Notably, Mamaearth saw a five-fold increase in orders, Denver saw an eight-fold increase, Swiss Beauty saw a 7.5-fold increase, Bella Vita achieved a 17.5-fold increase, and Mars saw a four-fold increase.

With over 20 lakh sellers and 12 crore product offerings across 30 categories, Meesho aims to provide customers across India with plenty of affordable and quality products to choose from this festive season.

Early trends for the Amazon Great Indian Festival (AGIF) show demand for free TV, furniture and home appliance installation services enjoyed by customers in over 500 cities.

There was also demand for stock exchange discounts (25% higher than last year) for old smartphones offered in over 400 cities. The intercom configuration service was ordered by customers in over 250 cities.

Additionally, premium smartphones (over Rs 30,000) recorded the highest year-on-year growth among all price segments. Luxury beauty products saw an 80 percent increase compared to the last AGIF. Watches saw an 8x increase, while premium watches saw a 10x increase compared to business as usual.

E-commerce companies and online retailers will ship $12 billion worth of goods to India during the holiday season, up 23 percent from about $9.7 billion last year, according to research firm Datum Intelligence.