Study Background

Objectives of the study

Key points to be covered
Gathering insights on multiple aspects of the festive sale period from 13th-17th of October 2015 including :-

• Industry sales performance and impact
• Customer experience and perspective on the sales
• Seller experience
• E-Tailer benchmarking on supply chain and sales performance

Key methodologies used
Assessing industry and player level performance during the sales period through:

• Secondary research and primary research with industry experts
• Mystery shopping on 750+ items
• Primary Interviews with 100+ sellers
• Primary Interviews with 500+ customers

Note: 1. Most of the figures are for festive days, which refer to 13th-17th October 2015
2. Sales/GMV related performance numbers are broad estimates
3. USD 1=INR 60 has been assumed across the deck

Disclaimer: The numbers and analysis quoted in the report have been developed through RedSeer research with industry experts and sellers, online reports and mystery shopping. The report is a fact-based study and should not be interpreted as a recommendation document

Average order values for the industry grew by ~50% compared to the presale period

Growth in industry AOV

During the sales period from 13th-17th October

Key growth drivers

• Increased volumes sold of high ticket size categories like mobiles and tablets
• Increased sales of premium items across categories, driven by:
  1. Availability of good deals on multi-item combos across product categories
  2. Availability of multiple cashback schemes across banks and categories

Customers feel that the app centric initiatives of e-tailers are helping to improve their online shopping experience

Customer shopping experience on app

N=500 unique shoppers interviewed
Q. Do you think that app-centric initiatives by e-tailing companies are improving your shopping experience?

What customers liked about shopping on apps

• Easy sharing of products and faster access of views by friends and family
• Push notifications for available sales and product availability as per browsing history and wishlist
• Browse anywhere anytime

Customer Wishlist from apps

• Better navigation and browsing features
• Easier way to compare products
• Easy sharing of wishlist with friends

Note: 1. Agree rating is classified as Agree / Strongly agree, Doesn't Matter rating as Neither agree nor disagree & Disagree rating as Disagree / Strongly disagree
2. Distribution of respondents across Metro, Tier-1 and Tier-2+ is 54%, 33% and 13% respectively.

The sellers were split across metros and the product categories

Respondent profile

By product category and region

A statistically significant sample of sellers was chosen that gives 96% confidence level and 10% of error margin on the findings

Note: Single platform sellers were 15%, Double platform : 24%, Triple platform : 22% and Four platform : 39%

Inspite of the high volumes dispatched by e-tailers during the sales period, their compliance levels did not decline

Impact of high sales volumes on compliance

Comparison between pre-sales vs. sales period

• Compliance for Flipkart remained same when compared between pre-sales and sales period even after witnessing a 300% rise in daily volume during sales period
• Amazon increased the number of buffer days to increase their compliance levels during sales period

Notes: 1) % change is computed between the sales and pre sales period.

This document covers the performance of the e-tailers in the October 2015 festive season.

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