Festival Season Witness Ecommerce Surge, Amazon Registers 140 Cr Customer Visits

The festival season coinciding with deals on ecommerce platforms has seen a surge of customers queue online. Amazon Great Indian Festival (AGIF) 2024 witnessed its highest-ever customer visits, with 140 crore customers visiting the platform, ecommerce platform Amazon India said in a release.

The ecommerce giant added that among the total customers visiting the platform, more than 85 per cent were from non-metro cities.

AGIF 2024 started on September 27, with 24 hours of Prime Early Access, giving customers access to more than 25,000 new launches from top brands across categories such as laptops, TVs, smartphones, fashion and beauty, home decor, appliances, furniture, and groceries.

AGIF 2024 also set seller success and witnessed more than a 70 per cent increase in sellers surpassing a crore in sales compared to last year.

The online marketplace bolstered its fast delivery capabilities, delivering over 3 crore products to Prime members across India within the same or next day -- a staggering 26 per cent increase from the previous year.

"This overwhelming response from across the country, for everything from daily essentials to high-value purchases, underscores customers' deepening trust in Amazon India. AGIF exemplifies our obsession with providing an unparalleled shopping experience through wide selection, unmatched value, fast delivery, and relentless innovation. We are committed to creating more opportunities that unlock greater value for our entire ecosystem of customers, sellers, and partners," said Saurabh Srivastava, Vice President - Categories, Amazon India.

AGIF '24 saw over a 70 per cent increase in sellers surpassing Rs 1 crore in sales compared to last year. Small and medium businesses, including women entrepreneurs, weavers, and artisans, sold over 1,000 units every minute during the event. Amazon India witnessed a travel booking bonanza -- flight reservations grew by 20 per cent, and hotel bookings skyrocketed by 60 per cent YoY, as per the company.

According to the company, the facility of EMIs fueled big-ticket purchases during the sale. During the sale on the platform, 5G smartphones saw a massive boost in the budget segment (Rs 10,000) with more than one-third volume share driven by the wide selection from top brands like Realme, iQOO, and Xiaomi, the company said.

The overall demand for both non-gaming and gaming laptops increased by 30 per cent YoY. Among non-gaming laptops, demand for the latest 13th Gen i3, i5, and i7 Intel-powered laptops grew by up to 10X YoY. In gaming laptops, Amazon saw strong demand for premium Intel i7 series laptops with 55 per cent YoY growth.

Customers enjoyed big savings on Alexa smart home combos, with 1 out of every 5 customers buying a smart product such as a smart plug, bulb, or camera bundled with an Echo Smart Speaker, as per the company.

The company observed that Tier 2 and beyond cities contributed to more than 70 per cent of premium smartphone sales. More than 50 per cent of TV purchases came from tier 2 and 3 cities. The company witnessed demand for large appliances from tier 2 cities grew by 25 per cent, with customers preferring air conditioners and refrigerators.

More than 60 per cent of new Amazon customers from Tier 2 cities and below shopped for fashion and beauty, while more than 50 per cent of fashion and beauty orders came from tier 2 and 3 cities, as per Amazon India.

The Home and Kitchen category saw more than 60 per cent of new customer demand coming from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, fueled by benefits like free delivery, coupons, and easy returns, the company said in the release. (ANI)