New Delhi, Oct 11 (Agencies): E-commerce platforms have reported strong growth in the opening days of their festive sales, with much of the demand coming from outside the metros.
Products ordered on Amazon rose over 100% year-on-year in the first 12 hours of its sale, the company said. Meesho’s orders on October 9, the first day of its sale, grew about 75% y-o-y, the company said. Flipkart recorded 6.3 million concurrent users in a minute in the first hour of its general sale on October 9, with over six times as many shoppers as in a regular hour, but did not share year-on-year growth in orders, report the Financial Express. Nearly one in two visits on Flipkart in the first hour came from Tier 3 towns and beyond, and non-metro customers accounted for about 60% of demand, the company said.
Amazon logged over 440 million visits from October 8 to October 9, with over 72% coming from beyond the top nine metros, the company said. Transacting customers on Meesho grew about 60% y-o-y on the first day, while Tier 3-plus customers on Meesho Mall, its storefront for branded products, nearly tripled, the company said.
Flipkart’s new customers in the first hour grew 34% over a regular hour, the company said. Amazon said first-time customers on its platform grew close to 100%, but did not specify the period of comparison.
Beauty was a common driver across platforms. One in four products bought on Amazon in the first 12 hours was a beauty product, and units ordered from beauty sellers rose nearly seven times over last year in the first 24 hours, the company said.
Flipkart’s beauty sales grew 42% y-o-y in the first hour, led by men’s grooming, the company said. Over eight in 10 first-time Meesho Mall buyers on the first day bought beauty and personal care products, the company said. Premium android smartphone sales grew 70% y-o-y on Amazon in the first 12 hours, and TVs of 55 inches and above made up 65% of all TVs sold in that period, the company said. Sales of large appliances grew 30% y-o-y on Flipkart in the first hour, and of tablets grew 73% y-o-y, the company said. Meesho Mall orders grew over 200% y-o-y on the first day, the company said.
One in two Amazon customers shopped using EMI in the first 12 hours, and EMI transactions on Amazon Pay Later doubled year-on-year as of October 9, the company said. Among Flipkart’s mobile phone buyers, one in three opted for no-cost EMI and one in four for product exchange, the company said.
Quick commerce arms also saw a lift. One in two products was delivered in minutes in the first 12 hours in the over 120 cities served by Amazon Now, Amazon said. In the first hour, orders on Flipkart Minutes rose 3.5 times over regular days and its new customers grew 11 times, Flipkart said.
Units ordered from sellers on Amazon more than doubled year-on-year in the first 24 hours, the company said. Transacting sellers on Meesho rose about 63% y-o-y on the first day, with those from Tier 4-plus markets doubling, the company said. Sellers in Tier 2-plus India grew 2.9 times over regular days on October 8, Flipkart’s early access day, the company said.
Amazon’s Great Indian Festival opened to all customers on October 8. Flipkart’s Big Billion Days opened on October 9, after an early access day on October 8 for its Plus and Black members and co-branded card holders. Meesho’s Mega Blockbuster Sale began on October 9.
All figures are company-reported, and none of the platforms disclosed gross merchandise value for the opening days.
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