Day 1: Bharat driving festive demand for e-commerce firms Amazon, Flipkart

Early Access for Flipkart Plus users up 40%; 45% demand from tier-3 and beyond, showing preference for high-value goods; 2 mn users pre-booked 5 mn items prior to Early Access, paying Re 1

E-commerce firms Amazon and Flipkart on Sunday said the early trends of their festive sales event reflected increased participation from tier 2 and 3 cities.

Amazon’s month-long Great Indian Festival 2021 and Flipkart’s The Big Billion Days began on Sunday. 

During Amazon’s Prime Early Access on October 2, the number of local shops participating in the event more than doubled compared to last year. “We also saw a 60 per cent increase in sellers who received their highest-ever single day sales year-on-year on Amazon,” said Manish Tiwary, vice-president, Amazon India, on Sunday. 

Prime subscription continues to be a customer favourite across India, with two of three new sign-ups coming from tier 2 and 3 cities and customers shopping in 8 Indian languages. “The number of sellers receiving an order from tier 2 and 3 cities jumped by 21 per cent and 16 per cent more sellers received orders over last year,” said Tiwary.

Early Access for Flipkart Plus customers grew 40 per cent compared to last year. About 45 per cent of the customer demand has been from tier 3 cities and beyond, signalling a strong preference for high-value goods and items. The anticipation for this festival was evident as more than 2 million customers pre-booked close to 5 million products just prior to Early Access by paying just Rs 1.

“This year, TBBD has started off seeing upbeat participation by customers and sellers,” said Nandita Sinha, vice-president, customer and growth, Flipkart. “E-commerce is gaining increasing acceptance among the masses, and it is evident that user-friendly technical and financial constructs are helping drive its adoption.”

Flipkart has designed and disbursed 'BBD Shagun’ for its customers this year. More than Rs 2 crore has been redeemed by over 250,000 users under this offering in the first 12 hours. 

One in five customers has chosen to exchange their smartphone for a new one, with 82.60 per cent of customers choosing to pay for their next smartphone using prepaid payment options. Apple 12 and Apple 12 Mini are currently the favourite smartphone models, accounting for most of the 200,000 Apple iPhone 12 devices sold so far. 

“We will continue, in the years ahead, to do what we do best – offer products that deliver the best value, and introduce features and solutions that make our platform more accessible and affordable for customers,” said Sinha.