Online retail sales in India saw a 32-35% surge on the first two days of this festive season, helped by the roll out of GST 2.0 and heavy discounting by ecommerce marketplaces Amazon India and Flipkart during their ongoing flagship sales events, according to analysts.
Amazon’s Great Indian Festival, and Flipkart’s The Big Billion Days opened for their loyalty programme users on Monday, a day prior to general consumers.
Smartphones, televisions, and appliances were the most in-demand products, with sales spiralling 30-40% in the past two days compared to the previous year. Other segments which saw strong demand are mattresses (25%), beauty and personal care (19%) and fashion (17%), per data shared by ecommerce consultancy firm Datum Intelligence.
Strong smartphone demand during festive sales is a crucial indicator as sales in the segment have been otherwise sluggish so far.
“Early trends show a 32-35% growth in overall sale value in the first two days of the ecommerce festive sale compared to last year,” said Satish Meena, founder, Datum Intelligence. “This growth is seen after a two-week long period of a significant slowdown in sales after the GST cuts were announced.”
In 2024, the first two days of festive sales saw a 20-25% growth in sales volume, according to Meena.
Sellers and brands reported a slowdown in spending over the past few weeks as consumers waited till September 22 for the roll out of reduced goods and services (GST) rates, resulting in lower prices. This year’s sale also assumes significance since the industry faced uneven growth in the past 2-3 years along with growing customer preference for rapid deliveries.
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. The GST cut is expected to lift this to over 30%, ET had reported on September 5.
Amazon India saw high double-digit growth in the value of premium smartphones sold on the early access day for its Prime members compared to last year with a nearly twofold rise in sales of premium appliances. "This premiumisation trend has expanded beyond metros into tier II and tier III cities," said Saurabh Srivastava, vice president - categories, Amazon India.
The ecommerce giant has also launched a storefront page featuring products with GST savings across categories for customers.
Festive bonanza for brands
Shadow Etail, an ecommerce seller, which sells garden items, homeware and cleaning products on Amazon and Flipkart, reported 25% year-on-year growth in sales on Day 1 compared to September 26, 2024, when last year’s events commenced.
“We are seeing increasing traffic and sales on ecommerce on Tuesday as it is opened for all the consumers. Every category is equally contributing to the overall sales due to GST cuts and the end of Shradh period," said Santhosh Balasundaram, chief executive and founder of Shadow Etail.
Similarly, ecommerce seller Etrade Online logged 30-40% higher sales across lawn products, dashcams, homeware, and pet food on Tuesday compared to last year’s first day of the sale.
Beauty and wellness brand Nat Habit doubled sales versus last year, aided by repeat purchases and larger basket sizes. “Since opening up discounts for all customers, we have seen a strong uplift in sales volumes, with higher repeat purchases and larger basket values,” said Swagatika Das, cofounder and chief executive of Nat Habit.
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Amazon’s Great Indian Festival, and Flipkart’s The Big Billion Days opened for their loyalty programme users on Monday, a day prior to general consumers.
Smartphones, televisions, and appliances were the most in-demand products, with sales spiralling 30-40% in the past two days compared to the previous year. Other segments which saw strong demand are mattresses (25%), beauty and personal care (19%) and fashion (17%), per data shared by ecommerce consultancy firm Datum Intelligence.
Strong smartphone demand during festive sales is a crucial indicator as sales in the segment have been otherwise sluggish so far.
“Early trends show a 32-35% growth in overall sale value in the first two days of the ecommerce festive sale compared to last year,” said Satish Meena, founder, Datum Intelligence. “This growth is seen after a two-week long period of a significant slowdown in sales after the GST cuts were announced.”
In 2024, the first two days of festive sales saw a 20-25% growth in sales volume, according to Meena.
Sellers and brands reported a slowdown in spending over the past few weeks as consumers waited till September 22 for the roll out of reduced goods and services (GST) rates, resulting in lower prices. This year’s sale also assumes significance since the industry faced uneven growth in the past 2-3 years along with growing customer preference for rapid deliveries.
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. The GST cut is expected to lift this to over 30%, ET had reported on September 5.
Amazon India saw high double-digit growth in the value of premium smartphones sold on the early access day for its Prime members compared to last year with a nearly twofold rise in sales of premium appliances. "This premiumisation trend has expanded beyond metros into tier II and tier III cities," said Saurabh Srivastava, vice president - categories, Amazon India.
The ecommerce giant has also launched a storefront page featuring products with GST savings across categories for customers.
Festive bonanza for brands
Shadow Etail, an ecommerce seller, which sells garden items, homeware and cleaning products on Amazon and Flipkart, reported 25% year-on-year growth in sales on Day 1 compared to September 26, 2024, when last year’s events commenced.
“We are seeing increasing traffic and sales on ecommerce on Tuesday as it is opened for all the consumers. Every category is equally contributing to the overall sales due to GST cuts and the end of Shradh period," said Santhosh Balasundaram, chief executive and founder of Shadow Etail.
Similarly, ecommerce seller Etrade Online logged 30-40% higher sales across lawn products, dashcams, homeware, and pet food on Tuesday compared to last year’s first day of the sale.
Beauty and wellness brand Nat Habit doubled sales versus last year, aided by repeat purchases and larger basket sizes. “Since opening up discounts for all customers, we have seen a strong uplift in sales volumes, with higher repeat purchases and larger basket values,” said Swagatika Das, cofounder and chief executive of Nat Habit.
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