Online platforms logged sales worth USD 9.2 billion (about Rs 65,000 crore) during this year's festive sale, up about 23 percent over last year, according to consulting firm RedSeer. RedSeer had predicted that online platforms are expected to potentially clock USD 9.6 billion gross GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) during the entire festive season this year, as against USD 7.5 billion (about Rs 52,000 crore) last year.

"A slew of new launches and easy financing options meant that Mobiles continued to remain the most widely-sold product category during this time, accounting for more than a third of the total GMV," RedSeer said in its report.

With hoards of people finally getting to leave their homes after months of lockdown, the Fashion category witnessed a resurgence like never before. Driven by consumers' desire to refresh their wardrobes and new innovative business models catering to shoppers in tier 2 cities, the sales of Fashion items via online channels doubled this year, RedSeer said.

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On the other hand, the categories that witnessed subdued growth this year included the likes of home furnishings, home decor and other electronics, it added.

The overall online shopper base grew by about 25 percent compared to last year, with 57 percent of the total shoppers coming from tier II cities and beyond, indicating that this year's festive sales were dictated by affordability schemes. "While the overall online GMV and absolute number of shoppers both increased, the GMV per user declined from Rs 6,570 to Rs 6,490 as relatively less expensive items such as fashion products saw an increase in their share of the overall GMV," it said.

The Flipkart Group emerged as the leader during the festive sales with 62 percent market share, it added. E-commerce companies see a large chunk of their annual business coming in during the festive sales and they make significant investments ahead of time to ramp up their capacity and add features to be able to handle the spike in orders, while ensuring a smooth experience for shoppers and sellers.

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Companies across the spectrum including Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and Myntra had lined up new launches and offers to woo shoppers during the festive season.

First Published:Nov 12, 2021 2:54 PM IST