Ecommerce companies may deliver a record this festive season

BENGALURU: As American retail giants Amazon and Walmart prepare to slug it out in their first festive season faceoff in India, industry experts anticipate ecommerce shipments to hit record levels during the peak sales period that begins in October.
Daily shipments are expected to surge past 3 million during the festive season from an average 2 million during the corresponding period last year, according to industry experts, as Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon double down on offers and discounts. During their flagship pected to double.

“This festive season is likely to be bigger (for ecommerce firms) than last year’s, which was more subdued because of several pre-GST sales,” said Satish Meena, senior forecast analyst at Forrester, pegging daily shipments during festive season at a relatively conservative 2.8 million.

“We are expecting customers will shop more, and companies are also going to focus on offering EMIs and affordability options.” This year’s festive season for ecommerce companies is expected to begin in the second week of October and may include multiple sales events staggered up to Diwali a month later, according to industry experts.



SALES MAY JUMP 70% BY VALUE
That’s apart from Flipkart’s flagship Big Billion Day and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival sales events, during when shipments could jump to 4.5 million a day, as per the industry estimates. On regular days, ecommerce shipments average 1.2-1.3 million. “We expect this season to be our biggest ever in terms of traffic, new customers, digital payment adoption, as well as sales,” said a spokesperson for Amazon India. “... Customers can look forward to more savings and convenience with programs such as no-cost EMI and exchange.”

Flipkart did not immediately reply to emailed queries. Paytm Mall’s festive season sales will begin in the first week of October and “continue till the end of the year with several sales planned around major festivals,” said a company spokesperson. “We are expecting shipments to surge by as much as 3 times this festive season as compared to last year.” As per industry estimates, shipments could jump to 4.5 million a day during Flipkart’s flagship Big Billion Day and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival sales events, which are expected around October 10.

Smartphones, electronic items and fashion products are expected to top the shipments, according to industry experts, with a bulk of the orders coming from the top 50-60 cities. In terms of value, ecommerce sales during the festive season are expected to jump by about 70%, as per some payment gateway companies. For last year, the overall gross value of festive season sales is estimated at $2.25-$2.8 billion, according to industry experts.

Flipkart, along with its online fashion retail platforms Myntra and Jabong, and Amazon India typically account for over 80% of the sales during the festive season. TA Krishnan, chief executive of Ecom Express, which undertakes deliveries for all major ecommerce marketplaces, estimates shipments during Flipkart’s and Amazon’s flagship sales events to increase to as high as 4.2 million-4.5 million a day. “On the other days during the festive season, shipments are expected to be between 3.5 million and 3.8 million a day.

It will be a 2x growth from last year,” Krishnan said. Guruprasad Srinivasan, president of global business services at Quess Corp, estimates ecommerce shipments during the festive season to touch 3 million a day. Quess’ logistics arm Dependo handles shipments for ecommerce companies. Smaller online retailers, too, are anticipating bigger sales during this year’s festive season. Bengaluru-based fashion brand Campus Sutra is expecting an 80-100% jump in shipments over last year’s festive season, based on internal assessments and targets of ecommerce platforms, cofounder Dhiraj Agarwal said.

The number of delivery personnel hired for the festive season is also expected to double this year, according to TeamLease. The staffing firm estimates at least 50,000 delivery staff will be hired for the festive season, largely for ecommerce logistics and warehousing, with 17% for offline retail, executive vice-president Rituparna Chakraborty said. During last year’s festive season, hiring stood at 28,000, as per the agency. Flipkart has said it will add 70,000 staff to its delivery fleet, taking the total strength to 100,000.

Paytm Mall will have 60,000 delivery associates across the country for the festive season. Ecom Express is looking to boost its delivery staff to 25,000 from 16,000.