Customers in tier 2-3 cities drive Amazon India festive sale: Report

E-commerce firm Amazon India claimed to have registered 110 crore customer visits -- highest ever for the company during Great Indian Festival -- with 80 per cent of shoppers coming from tier 2 and 3 cities.

The company said that it recorded a rise in demand for premium products during the festival season sale which started from October 7.

"The Amazon Great Indian Festival 2023 has been the biggest ever in history. We are humbled to be a part of customers' festivities and witnessed a record of more than 110 crores visits with over 15 lakh new customers shopping on Amazon India for the first time," Amazon India Consumer Business Country Manager Manish Tiwary said.

 

Amazon said that it received the highest single-day of Prime sign-ups, which is paid memberships, in the first 48 hours of sale. More than 65 per cent of Prime members who shopped during the festive season were from tier 2 and 3 cities and towns.

"This festive season, 80 per cent of our customers who shopped came from tier 2-3 cities reiterating our strong capabilities of delivering across all serviceable pin codes in India," Tiwary said.

The festival season sale trend reflects consumer buying pattern in the country.

In the premium segment, Amazon claimed to have sold 2.5 times more smartphones as compared to last year driven by affordability options such as "No Cost EMI" and exchange offers.

"Amongst all smartphones sold, 60 per cent were 5G-ready and 70 per cent of all smartphone orders came from tier 2 and below towns. Amazon Great Indian Festival 2023 achieved an all-time high in sales for large-screen TVs (55 inches & above) recording over 50 per cent higher sales than 2022," the company said.

The company said that 1 out of 4 purchases were made on EMI and 3 out of 4 products were sold on "No Cost EMIs".

Under the no-cost EMI scheme, customers either get a discount equal to the transaction fee and interest charges on purchase or the money is credited back to their account.

"We witnessed the highest ever demand observed for categories like jewellery, premium smart watches where new launches grew at almost 5 times," the statement said.

During the Amazon Great Indian Festival, growth of premium appliances including ACs, washing machines, and refrigerators among others was 2.5 times with over 45 per cent of the customers preferring to upgrade to premium appliances.

AC led the growth for the appliances category with 2 times growth compared to rest of the appliances, the statement said.

Amazon registered a 2 times spike in air fryers, 2 times in water purifiers, 1.6 times in outdoor sports products, 1.5 times in home workout equipment and a 1.3 times in healthier cooking options like triply stainless steel and cast-iron cookware during the GIF 2023 till November 8.