Amazon, Flipkart rake in $3.5 billion in festive sales

As per RedSeer Consulting and Forrester Research, India’s biggest e-commerce players, Amazon and Flipkart, have together raked in $3.5 billion during the first four days of their flagship festive season sales events, multiple brands and industry analysts.

Manish Tiwary, Vice President, Amazon India, discloses, this year Amazon launched over 1,100 new products with consumer-facing brands such as Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Asus, Lenovo, HP, LG, Whirlpool and Bajaj Appliances witnessing their biggest two-day sales.

Walmart-owned Flipkart launched electronics goods in the work-from-home segment, with large-screen televisions, laptops, IT accessories and peripherals witnessing an increase of over 1.4x from last year’s levels.

The overall e-commerce industry grew by 25-30% during the four-day period. The sector is on track to increase sales by 30-36 per cent during the one-week period compared to last year, the early numbers indicate. The sales surge in the first four days has come despite lower average discounts by brands this year.

Overall, e-commerce sales over the extended 30-day period are expected to grow to $6.5-$7 billion (Rs 48,000 crore to Rs 51,800 crore), according to separate estimates by RedSeer and Forrester Research, which said the numbers would be boosted by new online shoppers. About 75 per cent of festive season sales are recorded in just one week between October 15 and October 21, according to Forrester.