Rs 76k cr worth of goods sold online growth during festive sale: Redseer

• Growth driven by Category Democratization and growing share of T2+ consumers, fashion and lower average value items gaining prominence
• T2 cites led the growth, especially in fashion category, led by unbranded fashion; one in every five orders had a kurti or saree in their cart
• Three in every four sellers reported at least 2x growth from BAU with strong support from platforms

A recent report released by Redseer Strategy Consultants shows a ~25% YoY GMV growth in online retail during the festive month this year, with T2+ cities driving this growth and contributing ~57% of festive GMV.

This year, majority of the platforms held their festive sale during the one-month period between September 22 and October 23. For platforms that did not run a sale during any of these dates, the report had considered BAU order volumes.

Growth driven by Category Democratization and growing share of T2+ consumers

“Democratization of categories continued this year as well, with lower order value items growing faster than mobiles and electronics. While mobiles and electronics continue to dominate category share, home and kitchen, groceries and Beauty Personal Care were the fastest growing categories. Grocery grew almost ~2X from last festive,” said Sanjay Kothari, Associate Partner, Redseer Strategy Consultants.

Festive Sales have largely become a Tier 2+ phenomenon with 64% of transacting shopper coming from Tier 2+ cities. Fashion leads category adoption in T2 cities, led by unbranded fashion, wherein one in every five orders had a kurti or saree in their cart. Within Beauty, makeup was the most sought-after category with a lot of interest in looking and feeling good.

In home furnishing and décor, cushion covers, showpiece and decor accents contributed most to the growth.

From our consumer surveys, gifting emerged as a strong reason for purchase across categories and consumers reported an increase in the overall satisfaction with online platforms.

Growing maturity in Seller ecosystem driving higher sales

Further strengthening the online retail ecosystem, this festive saw robust growth for majority of sellers.

“Three in four sellers we surveyed reported at least 2X volume growth from BAU during sale days, with strong support from platforms in planning and executing the festive season well. This increase was more visible in lower ASP category like fashion where 42% of the sellers reported a 3X to 5Xgrowth from BAU,” Kothari further added.

India remains a strong consumption story despite global macro-economic headwinds

Offline retail stores have seen robust footfalls during Diwali this year, which is also evidenced by growth seen from movements in Google Mobility Index. Simultaneous growth of online and offline revalidates the domestic consumption story and indicates ample growth opportunities for both formats.

Methodology

Redseer has used consumer surveys, seller surveys, partner surveys, big data sources, expert interviews, mystery shopping, and other data such as app downloads and public reports like import data on mobile shipments to bring out accurate data for the festive sale report.