E-commerce platforms, which have outperformed other businesses during the pandemic lockdown, view the festival season in India with more hope as their sales are expected to double. in the next two months alone. "Christmas season sales are expected to nearly double in the next two months alone to €7 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV), up from €3.8 billion in GMV sales in the same year. period last year," according to a Mint report, citing Internet research firm RedSeer. In recent months, online outlets have seen a nice sales boost as more people opt to shop online due to Covid-19 fears. Ecommerce platforms have linked up with more sellers and increased their customer base and added more warehouses in recent times. The hope is bolstered by the fact that two of the biggest online players in India, Amazon and Flipkart, posted combined sales of around Rs 5,600 crore-Rs 6,000 crore at their Prime Day and Big Savings Day sales events. in August.
Focus on Tier 2 cities
As has been the trend of late, e-commerce portals expect Tier 2 cities to lead the charge for new demand. More than half of the orders will come from Tier 2 cities with 45-50 million users. This will mark a 70% year-over-year increase in the number of seasonal online shoppers, RedSeer said. Driven in large part by a new user base who now have access to the internet and an increase in online spending by existing users, the online retail market is expected to reach €50 billion by next year. . So far, new smartphone models, homework tools and home study have boosted sales, but during the holiday season, clothing and fashion sales will start to take off. Most of the competition would be between Amazon, Flipkart, and JioMart with their many supporting platforms. Amazon and Flipkart have said they will help their sellers get back into what has been a difficult season due to the economic lockdown. There are other platforms like BigBasket, Grofers, furniture distributors Urban Ladder, and Pepperfry, all hoping to do well as well.