Tier 3 shoppers were the biggest contributors to the orders during this sale period with nearly half of all the orders
New Delhi: D2C brands witnessed a 12.72% increase in sales during the Republic Day sale week as compared to the week before the same, e-commerce enabler GoKwik said in a press release on the analysis of brands on its network.
The Gurugram-based company in its release added that the GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) also saw a nominal rise of 10%.
The growth in the first quarter of the financial year (FY) 2024 has been muted after a great performance in the last quarter of 2023, despite Republic Day, which is usually a marquee sales event at the start of the year to give the necessary boost to brands.
“With shoppers going all out in the long festive season sale period in 2023, followed by the Black Friday sale that has increasingly grown popular amongst Indians, a modest surge in the Republic Day sale period could be a natural resting period in the first month of 2024,” said Chirag Tanjeja, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO), Gokwik said.
“Moreover, with macro headwinds such as high interest rates, layoffs, etc, shoppers might have been more conservative in their spending this time around. However, this seems to be a temporary trend and the consumption is likely to pick up with D2C’s favourite Valentine’s Day sale period coming up,” added Taneja.
Sales periods last year were dominated by the fashion category. However, this Republic Day, the beauty & personal care (BPC) segment emerged as the top contributor, experiencing a significant 19.89% order surge. Fashion followed closely with a nearly 7% order uplift.
Tier 3 shoppers were the biggest contributors to the orders during this sale period accounting for nearly half of all the orders. Tier 1 and 2 cities accounted for about 25% of orders, respectively. This trend was also observed across categories as most orders were clocked from Tier 3 cities continuing the trend from last year’s sale events. However, shoppers from smaller markets being more cost-sensitive than those from cities, have also availed almost two times more discounts from brands, especially in the BPC category, during the Republic Day sale period.
Continuing the trend, cash remained a preferred mode of payment in smaller towns, accounting for 3/4th of transactions during this period, while Tier 1 and 2 cities saw a higher inclination towards prepaid orders. Even though Tier 1 clocked most prepaid orders at 33%, the majority of India beyond Tier 1 cities still prefers Cash on Delivery (COD) as a payment mode.
Amongst states, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh continued to dominate the sale period orders, just like previous festive season sales, followed by Karnataka, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
A unique trend that was observed was that Gift cards and premium memberships emerged as top choices among consumers during this sale period, especially in BPC, underlining the increasing preference for flexible gifting options and exclusive memberships in the online shopping ecosystem.
