The e-commerce sector in India has recovered more than 90% of its pre-lockdown volume, according to SaaS e-commerce platform Unicommerce.
Observers had expected an initial boost to volumes due to pent-up demand caused by the country’s lockdown, but the recovery has been faster and sharper than many predicted. According to Unicommerce’s analysis, the sector is on target to fully recover by the end of June.
Sales of electronic items have led the recovery, the data shows, with sales volume not just matching pre-lockdown levels, but exceeding it by some 45%. The average cart size is down, however, by between 5-10%, as consumers order more low-value electronic items that allow them to work from home – such things as routers, USB cables and adapters.
“The increasing change in consumer behaviour to prefer online shopping has come as a great surprise and relief for online sellers and marketplaces,” said Kapil Makhija, CEO, Unicommerce.
“This will lead to the rising adoption of omnichannel solutions by companies across sectors and focus on digital transformation to significantly improve customer buying experience with the help of relevant technology solutions,” he said.
“With the current pace and recovery rate, we are positive that the sector will fully recover in the next couple of weeks,” Makhija added.
Afaqs! reported that there has also been a noticeable trend in the last couple of weeks towards the growth of D2C – those brands with their own e-commerce sites have seen faster growth recovery compared to other brands. While marketplaces are still dominant in terms of order share, D2C companies have seen a 25% faster recovery rate compared to other brands.
The fashion sector has recovered some 70% of its pre-lockdown sales, but again cart size has shrunk by around 25% on average. Popular apparel purchases were night wear and comfortable home wear. A few fashion categories have seen very sharp growth, such as children’s clothing, which is up over 100% on pre-lockdown volumes.
Separately, a study by Mastercard indicates that concern about hygiene is one of the drivers for e-commerce growth. MSN.com reported that some 86% of people believe the concern is here to stay. The study is also further evidence that e-commerce is on the rise in India, with 49% of people saying they plan to buy more online.
Sourced from Afaqs!
