India’s ecommerce sales hit $4.6b in first week of festive season

India’s festival season has continued to deliver dividends for ecommerce players.

The first week of this year’s festival season recorded sales worth US$4.6 billion, a 23% growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) from the same period last year, according to the latest RedSeer report.

Photo credit: RedSeer

The figures are close to RedSeer’s earlier prediction of sales worth US$4.8 billion for the period between October 2 and October 10.

The report also highlights some of the key trends from India’s festival season sale.

Mobile phones’ domination continues

RedSeer noted that smartphones worth a total of US$9 million were sold every hour during the first week of the festival season, accounting for 46% of total sales.

The electronics and appliances category had the second largest share, accounting for 27% of sales.

Photo credit: RedSeer

Factors like new product launches, equated monthly installments, and smart upgrade plans from brands helped drive the two categories, according to the report.

Flipkart leads the sale

Flipkart Group emerged as the leader during the first week of festival sales with a 64% market share. Amazon was at a distant second place, accounting for 28% of sales.