Amazon, Flipkart sales could go up by 16% on festive season boost

Marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon India earn a major chunk of their yearly gross sales in the festive period which usually lasts for a month

As the e-commerce ecosystem leaves behind a muted first half of the year, major brands, e-commerce platforms and online sellers are preparing for strong sales through the festive season, according to a report by The Economic Times (ET).

Data from market research company Datum Intelligence and consulting and research firm 1Lattice suggests that sales, in terms of gross merchandise value, are likely to rise roughly 15-16 per cent from the previous year to between $9.7 billion and $11 billion this year.

Gross merchandise value refers to the total value of goods sold via e-commerce platforms, calculated before the deduction of any fees or expenses.

 

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Marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon India earn a significant chunk of their yearly gross sales in the festive period which usually lasts for a month. Some categories, like large appliances, earn as much as a third of their annual income from festive sales.

Amazon on Thursday advanced the start of The Great Indian Festival to October 8 from the previously announced October 10. The news came a few hours after Flipkart declared that its main festive sales Big Billion Days will begin on October 8. Meesho and Myntra also announced their festive season sales. 

Premiumisation and increased buying from "new" categories of customers, like those in tier-2 and -3 towns, and younger audiences, would be crucial, according to online sellers and large brands. Nandita Sinha, chief executive of Myntra, was quoted as saying that a large number of young people in their late teens are entering the e-commerce buyer base and Myntra is expecting benefits on both ends of the spectrum (through premiumisation and the entry of tier-2 and -3 users).

Gaurav Khatri, co-founder and chief executive at wearables Noise, stated that the company's share of the revenue from metro and tier-1 cities had decreased to 40 per cent from 60 per cent earlier. The other 60 per cent came from tier-2 towns and beyond. The company had a large number of first-time buyers in the previous year. The firm expects to see a larger number of consumers upgrade to premium devices this year, he added.