Quick commerce may account for $1 billion of these ecommerce sales in terms of gross merchandise value (GMV), the report said. GMV is the total value of goods sold on ecommerce platforms, excluding discounts and returns.
Ecommerce platforms, their sellers and major brands are preparing for robust sales during the festive season. This period of around two months, culminating with Diwali, typically brings a significant portion of revenue for ecommerce firms and other retailers.
This year, quick-commerce platforms like Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Mumbai-based Zepto and BigBasket’s BB Now are preparing for an action-packed Diwali, aiming to capture a greater market share.
“Quick commerce is something which stands out this year. It’s not that there will be a lot of non-grocery, non-BPC (beauty and personal care) purchases. But in this category, they will be the dominant player,” said Satish Meena, an advisor at Datum Intelligence. “And this is not only cutting into the sales from the marketplace of modern trade, but it will cut sales from the kirana stores also.”
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Zepto said its sellers have scaled up inventory with new categories like electrical appliances, beauty products, and even gifting options like plants for the festive season, alongside its core categories of kitchen appliances, personal care and gift packs. “We’re working closely with brands to craft festival-specific offers…,” a Zepto spokesperson said.
Grocery and beauty and personal care are set to drive growth, with quick commerce expected to contribute 51% to online grocery sales compared with 37.6% last year, according to the report.
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Sale season
For ecommerce platforms, sales of categories like smartphones and large appliances during the festive season bring up to a third of their annual revenue.
Mobile and fashion categories will dominate festive spending, making up 50% of total sales, the Datum Intelligence report said.
“The premiumisation trend which started last year will continue this year also. Last year premiumisation was seen in the category of smartphones,” said Meena.
Ecommerce leaders Amazon India and Walmart-owned Flipkart are scheduled to start their annual festive season sale on September 27, which will last for about a month. SoftBank-backed ecommerce firm Meesho will kick off its Meesho Mega Blockbuster Sale on the same day. Flipkart-owned fashion platform Myntra is set to begin its Big Fashion Festival a day earlier.
“For the upcoming festive season, Flipkart customers can expect enhanced on-app experiences including video commerce, immersive technologies like AR and 3D try-ons, and an expanded product selection across a wide range of categories,” said Harsh Chaudhary, head of growth at the ecommerce firm.
According to the Datum Intelligence report, shoppers in small cities are beginning their purchases earlier to ensure timely delivery of their products. Typically, during the rush of the festive season, delivery estimates in non-metro markets are longer than usual.
In the run up to this year’s festive season, Flipkart has launched 11 fulfilment centres while creating over 100,000 new temporary jobs in over 40 regions. It is also strengthening same-day and next-day deliveries across a growing network of cities.
Amazon launched three new fulfilment centres in the National Capital Region, Guwahati and Patna to enhance delivery speeds, support over 250,000 sellers and create job opportunities. Amazon India didn’t comment.
“Millennials form 60% of our shopper base, significantly influencing shopping trends on our platform. Their preferred categories are fashion, home and kitchen, BPC, electronic accessories as well as office and stationery. Popular searches include smartwatch, water bottle, ready-to-wear sarees, shoe rack, nail polish and lunch bags,” said a spokesperson from Meesho.
Also Read | 71% of Indian consumers intend to shop online this festive season: report
Brands in action
Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, cofounder of Wakefit that sells mattresses and furniture, said consumer demand has steadily rebounded over the past 10 months, raising high expectations for the festive sales. He expects double-digit growth, with key days seeing sales up to 10 times the usual levels.
According to industry experts, quick commerce is suitable for specific categories and is causing disruption in some areas of ecommerce. However, it doesn’t apply to all categories; for example, electronics remains a major segment in ecommerce that quick commerce cannot replicate. Another is large items, like furniture.
“Given the bulky nature of our core products like mattresses and furniture, quick commerce is not yet optimised to handle such items. However, smaller products like pillows and accessories are well-suited for quick commerce, and we expect a significant contribution from this segment during the festive season,” Ramalingegowda added.
“We are seeing great traction on quick-commerce platforms and actively working with all the large quick-commerce platforms. Having said that, ecommerce remains the largest channel and critical to focus on these platforms to drive revenues,” said Gaurav Nayyar, chief operating officer at homegrown wearable and audio products brand Boat. Quick commerce is the third biggest channel for sales for the startup.
Boat is expecting a surge in demand for premium products.
While for snacking brand Farmley, quick commerce is expected to contribute significantly this season. “The platforms have been growing quite rapidly and along with that we are looking to grow our category share as well. It is unlocking market access for us,” said cofounder Abhishek Agarwal.
“For the upcoming festive and travel season, Scapia is projecting a 50% growth in international travel. This surge will be further fuelled by a 5-6-fold increase in credit card spending on online festival shopping, through which customers will earn rewards redeemable for travel bookings on the app,” said Anil Goteti, founder of the travel-focused fintech firm.