Red Seer: India festive sales saw 71% rise in online shopping

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Nov 26, 2018

Nearly 24 million Indian shoppers made online purchases this sale season constituting a 71 percent increase compared to last year, according to a recent Red Seer report.

According to Red Seer, in 2017, 14 million shoppers made online purchases during the October festive sale season. This year, the number rose by 71 percent and 24 million shoppers went online to find deals.

The report listed aggressive discounting and marketing campaigns as a reason for this increase in online shopping. This trend is not limited to India alone as the US also recently reported a surge in the number of customers choosing to shop online during the ongoing Black Friday sale.

The report, titled “Festive Sale Month Performance”, also reported that the number of shoppers from Tier 2 cities purchasing online also increased dramatically. In 2017, metro customers made up 36 percent of sales, Tier 1 customers made up 25 percent, and Tier 2 customers made up 39 percent. However, in 2018, metro customers dropped to 32 percent of the total and Tier 1 customers dropped to 20 percent but Tier 2 customers increased to lead with 48 percent. This will surely encourage e-tailers to further focus on Tier 2 customers for future growth.

The report also stated that the festive sale season saw 43 percent year-on-year growth for online sales in terms of gross market value. Electronics was the most popular product category but fashion was second with 11 percent of the total market share.