Flipkart said it witnessed concurrent users on the app at 1.6 million per second during its first day of the flagship Big Billion Days sale. The company added that the number of Flipkart Plus (loyalty progamme) customers using its early access option during the first day saw ‘healthy’ growth from last year.
Interestingly, the majority of these customers were from tier-2 cities and beyond, reflecting the growing e-commerce adoption in the smaller parts of the country.
Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy told ET earlier this month that the majority of its growth is coming from outside the top 10 cities in India. Similar to customers, an increasing number of sellers and kirana partners are also coming from smaller cities. As many as 11 lakh businesses including on Shopsy (social commerce platform) participated in the Big Billion Days, Flipkart said in a statement.
“This year’s event is special for many reasons – the growing strength of our seller and partner ecosystem; the innovations that have enabled access to greater inclusivity and affordability for consumers; the positive impact we have had on local economies in terms of business opportunities and job creation,” said Manjari Singhal, senior director of customer, growth, and events at Flipkart.
Illustration: Rahul Awasthi
Meanwhile,
Amazon India on Saturday said it has recorded a two-fold jump in its customer base from tier-2 and -3 cities during the first 36 hours of its festive season sale as they accounted for 75% of its total customer base during its ‘Great Indian Festival’ sale, an Amazon India spokesperson told news agency PTI.
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“It is encouraging to witness small and medium businesses, startups, artisans, and women entrepreneurs offer a wide selection of products to our customers across India. We are humbled by the increase in new Prime member sign-ups and customers shopping across categories as they trust Amazon as their preferred online shopping destination”, said Manish Tiwary, vice president & country manager, of India’s consumer business, Amazon.
The US e-tailer said it has recorded sales of 10 lakh unique products offered by small and medium businesses and startups during the first 36 hours of its festive season sale. Both Amazon India and Flipkart started their festive battle on September 23.
For Amazon India, the company said its Prime member sign-ups grew 1.9 times than last year. Amazon charges a fee from Prime users offering a range of services including–faster delivery, online streaming, and others.
Bengaluru-based ecommerce player Meesho, too, said it witnessed strong growth from tier-2 and -3 cities during the opening day of its sale event.
Meesho claimed to have clocked a record ~8.76 million orders on the first day of its flagship festive sale event, up nearly 80% from day one of the previous year’s sale, with tier-2, -3, and -4 cities accounting for nearly 85% of the orders on day one.
“With nearly 85% of orders and nearly 75% of sellers coming from tier-2+ cities, we are humbled to have created a far-reaching impact in the deepest corners of the country. We will continue to fuel the discoverability of hyperlocal businesses and products, empower MSMEs, and further boost accessibility and affordability for our heterogeneous base of consumers,” said Utkrishta Kumar, CXO, business at Meesho.
A lot riding on festive sales
While festive sales have always been a significant contributor to the gross merchandise value (GMV) of major ecommerce retailers, this year’s sale has a lot riding on it following two years of subdued demand owing to the pandemic and a subsequent lull in festive cheer.
We reported that dominant e-commerce marketplaces
Amazon India and Walmart-owned Flipkart are going all out with new category launches, reduction in seller fees, and direct engagement to woo merchants.
Amazon India has begun live commerce sessions on its app, starting with the fashion category, like what homegrown e-tailer Flipkart did in February.
It has also waived off the new seller fee by 50% to bring more vendors online.
Industry sources said that Flipkart is expected to maintain its lead in festive sale market share and is aiming to grow by about 20-25% during the next month. Last year, the Bengaluru-based e-tailer clocked a GMV of around Rs 35,000-Rs 37,000 crore during the festive month.
According to a report by market research firm Redseer, the month-long festive season sales will record a GMV of $11.8 billion–up by 28% compared to last year.
