Ecommerce majors Amazon and Flipkart opened their annual sale events—Great Indian Festival and The Big Billion Days—for their loyalty programme users on Monday. Despite being a working day, brands and sellers said they noted a more than 20% increase in demand on the first day.
Demand this festive season is expected to get a boost from the cut in GST rates on most products that came into effect Monday. The past few weeks had seen a slowdown in spending as consumers waited for the new GST rates to become effective and prices to come down.
The Pant Project, a fashion brand specialising in custom-made and ready-to-wear pants, said it posted three to five times higher sales on online marketplaces Monday compared with a typical day’s business. “We are projecting a 15-20% increase in sales in this festive season compared to last year’s festive period,” driven by the recent 7-percentage-point cut in GST rates, said cofounder Udit Toshniwal.
“While we have passed on the benefit to customers in some of our key categories, the resulting competitive pricing has already translated into higher volumes,” Toshniwal claimed.
Sidhant Keshwani, founder and chief executive of fashion Indian-wear brand Libas, said the GST revision has been favourable for mass fashion (items priced up to Rs 2,500), which now attracts only 5% GST compared with 12% earlier.
However, the premium and occasion wear like heavy suits, sarees lehengas were moved from 12% to 18%, which puts pressure on customer sentiment in that price band, he said. “To protect value perception, we are consciously absorbing part of this cost rather than passing it entirely on to the consumer,” Keshwani told ET, noting that the brand is anticipating 20-30% sales growth this festive season.
The improved consumer sentiment was reflected across categories such as home and kitchenware, footwear, beauty and personal care and electronics where the tax rates have mostly come down.
Santhosh Balasundaram, chief executive and founder of Shadow Etail, a D2C seller on ecommerce platforms, said early demand for the home essential category around 10 am Monday was about 150% compared with last week. Personal care brand Pilgrim saw 50-100% sales growth on the first day on ecommerce compared to business-as-usual.
Ergonomic accessories maker Frido said it posted four to 10 times growth on ecommerce marketplaces compared with a typical day. Consumer appliances maker Atomberg Technologies expects sales to grow more than 20%.
"Early data suggest multi-fold growth across categories. From smartphones to large appliances, fashion and consumer electronics, Prime members have shopped for deals across categories," said Saurabh Srivastava, vice-president of categories at Amazon India.
Strong purchase intent
Online fashion platform Myntra and ecommerce platform Meesho began their annual sale on the weekend.
D2C clothing brand Campus Sutra said its sales rose 36% over the weekend compared with the first two days of the sale event last year. Men’s clothing brand Snitch reported a 40% increase in orders across ecommerce platforms.
“By moving the 5% slab threshold to Rs 2,500, a wider range of our products now fall under the lower tax bracket which has given a noticeable push to demand,” said Siddharth Dungarwal, founder and chief executive of Snitch.
"We are seeing high customer purchase intent, led by a strong uplift in footwear, followed by apparel and beauty categories. The recent GST reforms have further created excitement among shoppers," said Bharath Kumar, head of revenue and growth at Myntra. The Flipkart-owned fashion retailer's annual sale started on September 20.
Anticipating stronger-than-usual demand, ecommerce platforms have been ramping up capacity and strengthening supply chains to withstand pressure during peak festive sale periods to ensure smooth operations. The preparedness assumes added importance as the sector, which has struggled with muted demand over the past couple of years, is counting on this festive cycle to revive momentum.
Analysts expect the overall ecommerce festive sales to grow over 30% on the back of the GST relief, ET reported on September 5. Ecommerce marketplaces and online retailers were earlier expected to ship a record Rs 1.2 lakh crore worth of goods this festive season, a 25% increase from 2024.
Add Now!
Demand this festive season is expected to get a boost from the cut in GST rates on most products that came into effect Monday. The past few weeks had seen a slowdown in spending as consumers waited for the new GST rates to become effective and prices to come down.
The Pant Project, a fashion brand specialising in custom-made and ready-to-wear pants, said it posted three to five times higher sales on online marketplaces Monday compared with a typical day’s business. “We are projecting a 15-20% increase in sales in this festive season compared to last year’s festive period,” driven by the recent 7-percentage-point cut in GST rates, said cofounder Udit Toshniwal.
“While we have passed on the benefit to customers in some of our key categories, the resulting competitive pricing has already translated into higher volumes,” Toshniwal claimed.
Sidhant Keshwani, founder and chief executive of fashion Indian-wear brand Libas, said the GST revision has been favourable for mass fashion (items priced up to Rs 2,500), which now attracts only 5% GST compared with 12% earlier.
However, the premium and occasion wear like heavy suits, sarees lehengas were moved from 12% to 18%, which puts pressure on customer sentiment in that price band, he said. “To protect value perception, we are consciously absorbing part of this cost rather than passing it entirely on to the consumer,” Keshwani told ET, noting that the brand is anticipating 20-30% sales growth this festive season.
The improved consumer sentiment was reflected across categories such as home and kitchenware, footwear, beauty and personal care and electronics where the tax rates have mostly come down.
Santhosh Balasundaram, chief executive and founder of Shadow Etail, a D2C seller on ecommerce platforms, said early demand for the home essential category around 10 am Monday was about 150% compared with last week. Personal care brand Pilgrim saw 50-100% sales growth on the first day on ecommerce compared to business-as-usual.
Ergonomic accessories maker Frido said it posted four to 10 times growth on ecommerce marketplaces compared with a typical day. Consumer appliances maker Atomberg Technologies expects sales to grow more than 20%.
"Early data suggest multi-fold growth across categories. From smartphones to large appliances, fashion and consumer electronics, Prime members have shopped for deals across categories," said Saurabh Srivastava, vice-president of categories at Amazon India.
Strong purchase intent
Online fashion platform Myntra and ecommerce platform Meesho began their annual sale on the weekend.
D2C clothing brand Campus Sutra said its sales rose 36% over the weekend compared with the first two days of the sale event last year. Men’s clothing brand Snitch reported a 40% increase in orders across ecommerce platforms.
“By moving the 5% slab threshold to Rs 2,500, a wider range of our products now fall under the lower tax bracket which has given a noticeable push to demand,” said Siddharth Dungarwal, founder and chief executive of Snitch.
"We are seeing high customer purchase intent, led by a strong uplift in footwear, followed by apparel and beauty categories. The recent GST reforms have further created excitement among shoppers," said Bharath Kumar, head of revenue and growth at Myntra. The Flipkart-owned fashion retailer's annual sale started on September 20.
Anticipating stronger-than-usual demand, ecommerce platforms have been ramping up capacity and strengthening supply chains to withstand pressure during peak festive sale periods to ensure smooth operations. The preparedness assumes added importance as the sector, which has struggled with muted demand over the past couple of years, is counting on this festive cycle to revive momentum.
Analysts expect the overall ecommerce festive sales to grow over 30% on the back of the GST relief, ET reported on September 5. Ecommerce marketplaces and online retailers were earlier expected to ship a record Rs 1.2 lakh crore worth of goods this festive season, a 25% increase from 2024.
Add 
as a Reliable and Trusted News Source
as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
