E-commerce order volumes grow 20% in first 4 days of festive season sale

Despite only a marginal increase in volumes, the home decor category reported an impressive 50 per cent increase in GMV over last year

The e-commerce festival season sales are off to a strong start.

Order volumes grew by 20 per cent during the first four days of the sale in 2024 (September 26-29) compared to the first four days of last year, according to e-commerce tech firm Unicommerce. Last year, the festival began on October 7.

During the same period, gross merchandise value (GMV) also increased by 24 per cent over last year.

Unicommerce, an e-commerce enablement SaaS platform, analysed over 1.3 million order items processed through its platform during the initial days of the sale.

“Festival season sale has become an exciting phase of the year when everyone awaits attractive offers and an extensive variety of products,” said Kapil Makhija, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Unicommerce.

 

He added, “While this continues as a trend year after year, we see an increasing number of brands participating in the sale season. This affirms India's status as a digitally-forward country.”

Some product categories that observed notable increase in volumes include fashion and accessories with over 32 per cent growth. There was high demand for products like travel accessories, watches and kids apparel.

Make-up products witnessed an impressive 54 per cent year-over-year (Y-o-Y) growth during this festival sale.

In the health and pharma segment, which clocked a sizable 33 per cent growth rate in volumes over last year, nutraceuticals and fitness supplements had the highest demand.

Despite only a marginal increase in volumes, the home decor category reported an impressive 50 per cent surge in GMV over last year. This shows a significant growth in consumer appetite for higher-value purchases across the home decor and furnishings segment.

Other products that witnessed high demand during this period include phone accessories, books, sports and fitness products and healthy snacks.

The increase in both volume and value highlights a robust start to the season’s sales.

There are many more days of the festival season sales lined up in October 2024 to mark Navratri, Dussehra, Karva Chauth, Diwali, Bhaiya Dooj and other festivities.

The Amazon Great Indian Festival (AGIF), which started on September 27 with 24-hour early access for Prime members, has seen the biggest ever opening for its sellers and brand partners.

The company said the first 48 hours of AGIF 2024 have been the best ever, with nearly 110 million customer visits and over 8,000 sellers surpassing Rs 1 lakh in sales.

Customers got access to more than 25,000 new product launches across categories. They are laptops, TVs, fashion and beauty, home décor, appliances, furniture, smartphones, and groceries from top brands.

E-commerce firm Myntra is also hosting the Big Fashion Festival.

With 120 million visitors during early access and Day 1, Myntra saw customers exhibiting high shopping intensity across core fashion and emerging categories.

At the kick-off of the sale event, Myntra witnessed 15X new users over business-as-usual (BAU) joining the platform. It saw a 2X spike in OPM (orders per minute) at peak compared to last year, in the opening hour of the event.

E-commerce firm Flipkart recorded 330 million user visits during early access and Day 1 combined, during the Big Billion Days (BBD) 2024 sales event.

The BBD was held on September 27, with early access beginning on September 26 for Flipkart VIP and Plus customers.