Festive sales through e-commerce in India are likely to reach $7 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) this year compared to $3.8 billion in the same period last year, according to a report by research firm RedSeer, which said e-commerce is expected to reach $38 billion in sales in 2020 from $27 billion GMV in 2019 based on the strong festive sales performance.
New shopping models are likely to come up due to changing customer demographic and video-based and WhatsApp-based shopping will be new additions to the festive landscape, the report said.Festive sales through e-commerce in India are likely to reach $7 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) this year compared to $3.8 billion in the same period last year, according to a report by RedSeer, which said e-commerce is expected to reach $38 billion in sales in 2020 from $27 billion GMV in 2019 based on the strong festive sales performance.#
Offline recovery is, however, weak as consumers are still apprehensive about visiting high human touchpoint areas like malls and retail outlets, it said.
"COVID enabled massive growth in new shoppers as consumers now more than ever prefer to shop in a manner that is convenient, safe and hygienic and the e-commerce space meets these requirements. Despite at least a month to go before the sales, consumers show positive sentiments to purchase during this period as per our survey," RedSeer said.
"Strong nationalist sentiment coupled with the government's Atmanirbhar policy is expected to impact the brand mix in categories like electronics/mobile," the report was quoted as saying by Indian media outlets.
Driven by the massive shopper growth, the festive sales for the first event is expected to grow 50 per cent year on year to reach $4 billion (compared to $2.7 billion in 2019), the report titled 'The Festival of Firsts' said.
It estimated that 45-50 million people shopped online last year in the first sale during festive season offered by various players like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and Shopclues.
"Mobiles and appliances to remain strong but not as large as previous years as demand for these verticals has been somewhat satiated with category specific sales post lockdown," it said. Long tail categories including Home and Home Furnishings are expected do better than anytime before, due to high demand for upgrading work-from-home/study-from-home environment, it added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)