Galloping start to ecomm festive sales, but will it sustain?
The Economic Times has reported that brands and ecommerce executives think they are recording sales at the start of the festive purchase that can be described as “better than expected” at the end of the first week.
Well begun is half done and morning shows the day. While ecommerce firms would love to trust these crystallised pearls of wisdom, there is also sobering thought – there is many a slip betwixt the cup and the lip. While ecommerce trends during the first week of flagship sales has got off to a encouraging start it remains to be seen whether it will sustain for another month or so till the preparation of Diwali.
This year Diwali will be observed on October 12.
The Economic Times has reported that brands and ecommerce executives think they are recording sales at the start of the festive purchase that can be described as “better than expected” at the end of the first week. The deep discounts have had their effect they have said.
According to Unicommerce, an ecommerce enabler firm that keeps track of online sales data, said the Indian ecommerce industry recorded a bumper growth of 30%+ in volume terms between October 7 and 13. Sales grew at 18% over the first week between October 7 and 14. The gross billing was at more than $4 billion, said Satish Meena, who is an adviser of Datum Intelligence, a market research company.
“Compared to the first week of the festive period last year, we saw a three times growth in sales,” said Anurag Kedia, cofounder of beauty and wellness brand Pilgrim.
“We’re seeing some great trends early on compared to a rather dull sale last year,” remarked Pallav Bihani, the founder of Boldfit which deals in health supplements and sports equipment.
Incidentally, the days between September 29 and October 15 this year is observed as a period of ‘Shradh’, when Hindus in many states choose not to indulge in purchases. However, in some states such as West Bengal which is well into the Durga Puja preparations, most people began festive purchases.
Several brands told the newspaper that they witnessing more intense activity around advertising and preparedness by ecommerce entities this year compared to 2022.
“Typically during the festive season, due to the surge in demand, orders that were supposed to get delivered in 24 hours will take 36 hours, and so on. But this year, in spite of the higher base and higher growth, we are seeing much better customer service in terms of deliveries… You can’t make these changes overnight, so this is hardcore operational preparation,” said Kedia.
According to Datum Intelligence, the categories of products that made a mark in sales included smartphones, the sales of which rose by 34% between October 7 and 14 this year compared to the same period last year. Sales of fashion items rose 17%, electronics and durables 22%, books and general merchandise 13%.