E-commerce to garner $9 bn in festive month

E-commerce is expected to clock gross merchandise value (GVM) of $4.8 billion during this year’s festive week. For the entire festive month, e-commerce could garner about $9 billion, registering a growth of 23 per cent over last year.

During the festive week between October 6 and 12, including early access to Big Billion Days, e-commerce companies could grab sales of $4.8 billion against $3.7 billion in the festive week of last year – a growth of 30 per cent. In the previous year, the growth in GMV was higher at 37 per cent, according to a report by Bengalurubased RedSeer Consulting.

Similarly, for the entire festive month, the total GMV could rise 23 per cent to $9 billion against $7.4 billion in the previous year. In 2020, however, the growth was 48 per cent.

According to the consultancy, offline shopping is recovering along with mobility to nearly preCovid levels. Customers may shop offline more than last year and this is likely to lead to strong offline sales, impacting ecommerce growth during the festive season.

Further, larger consumer base than ever before will play the major role in driving festive sales growth this year and this will be driven by tier 2+ shopper growth. During the festive week, 65 million shoppers are expected to buy online and this will be 30 per cent higher than 50 million last year. Though spend per customer will be stagnant at $74, more number of shoppers will ensure a 30 per cent growth in GMV.

Fashion products will see a steady recovery this year and the category will increase its share in the festive basket from 14 per cent to 16 per cent.

Mobiles as a category will remain broadly strong and key during the festive sales driven by new launches across different price points. Despite overall growth in the category, its share will slightly come down from 47 per cent to 45 per cent. Affordability constructs, including EMIs and ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ will be strong growth levers for the electronics and home appliances category.

Buoyed by the festive sales, the annual GMV of e-commerce may touch $49 to $52 billion in 2021 against $38.2 billion in the previous year.