Key Points: 

  • ~INR 47,000 crores of GMV clocked in Week 1 of the 2023 Festive Sale with a growth rate of ~19% over Week 1 of 2022 Festive Sale
  • High ASP items such as Mobiles, Electronics, and Large Appliances emerged as the largest contributor to the sales during Week 1, driving ~67% of the total sales with premiumization emerging as a key theme in these categories
  • Trends suggest that low ASP categories like Fashion, BPC, and Home, will continue to grow in the remaining Festive Season
  • Flipkart Group continues to assert its leadership in Week 1 of the 2023 Festive Season Sale, further gaining market share over last year’s sale to reach ~63% in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) terms
  • In volume terms, Meesho retained its second position, notably gaining market share in Week 1 to reach ~25% of the total orders, up from ~21% in 2022

 

Bengaluru, 20th October 2023: The latest report by Redseer Strategy Consultants on the 2023 Indian e-commerce festive season, gives an update on the sales in Week 1 of the Festive Season.

High ASP categories steered Week 1 to a robust ~19% YoY growth

Week 1 of the 2023 Festive Season sale, which concluded on the 15th of October, saw online platforms clocking a GMV of ~Rs. 47,000 crores, growing at ~19% over Week 1 of the 2022 Festive Season sale.

8 out of the 9 days of the sale period this year were in the ‘shradh’ period, compared to 4 out of the 9 days in 2022. This led consumers to over-index purchases towards “essential upgrades” in this festive season, and to prioritise buying/upgrading high ASP categories such as Mobiles, Electronics & Large Appliances, which typically have time-bound deals with easy financing options.

Together, Mobiles, Electronics & Large Appliances drove ~67% of the GMV in the Week 1 sale period. The last day of the Week 1 sale, the only ‘non-shradh’ day in Week 1, saw a 36% YoY growth compared to the last day of Week 1 in 2022, this was the second highest YoY growth in a single day in this festive season.

Bolstered by easy financing and a sense of FOMO (Fear of missing out) created by ‘Pre-book/Price-lock’ feature being offered by platforms for the first time, premiumization as a theme was seen to be playing out in these high ASP categories. Further, as per Redseer’s survey, ~30% of the consumers who shopped high ASP categories in Week 1, utilized easily accessible financing options while making these purchases.

Trends suggest that low ASP categories will continue to grow in coming days

Redseer’s consumer surveys indicated that in the remainder of the Festive Season  ~55% of the consumers surveyed, who shopped during Week 1, are planning to make (more) purchases in the remaining Festive Season, with more than ~50% of these consumers planning to make these purchases in Fashion, and more than ~25% of these consumers planning to purchase other low ASP categories like Beauty & Personal Care and Home & Living.

Speaking on the overall themes that emerged in Week 1, Abhishek Tandon, Engagement Manager, Redseer, stated, “Two India’s clearly emerged in Week 1 of this Festive Season: One, that is holding on to spending to buy premium products at the right prices and one that, is shopping more frequently but spending on value for money products. This ties in with our overall consumption thesis, that while Indian consumers are holding back discretionary spends, they are willing to spend it they get the desired value or deals.”

The Leaderboard for Week 1 of the 10th Festive Season Sale is out

According to Redseer’s latest estimates, the Flipkart Group, (consisting of Flipkart, Myntra, and Shopsy) continues to assert its leadership in Week 1 of the 2023 Festive Season sale, further gaining market share over last year’s sale to reach ~63% in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) terms, while also remaining the leader in volume terms. Followed by Amazon, with a substantial market share.

In volume terms, Meesho retained its second position, notably gaining market share in Week 1 of the 2023 Festive Season Sale, with the share increasing to 25% of the total orders, up from 21% in Week 1 of the 2022 Festive Season Sale.

Methodology and Approach:

The Festive Season Sale data is captured using Redseer’s Integrated Research Approach (IRA) which we have perfected over the last decade. The methodology for deriving the data encompasses ~1,00,000 consumer surveys per quarter, ~20,000 seller surveys per annum, ~2000 partner/delivery executive surveys per quarter, our proprietary big data analysis on a panel size of ~2 Mn transacting users, ~10,000 mystery shopping orders per annum, other data sources such as App downloads, import data on mobile shipments, and numerous public reports. This multi-faceted approach ensures the accuracy and reliability of our insights into e-commerce trends during the Festive Season.