Over 8,000 Amazon sellers surpassed Rs 1 lakh in sales within the first two days of the event
Bengaluru: E-commerce major Amazon India’s festive sale Amazon Great Indian Festival (AGIF) 2024 has recorded 11 crore customer visits in the first 48 hours, with 80% coming from tier 2 and smaller towns, according to a company press release on Tuesday.
Amazon launched its sale on 26 September, initially offering early access to its paid subscribers before opening the sale to all customers on 27 September.
The highest ever number of Prime members shopped during the first 24 hours with more than 140% members shopping during this time and purchasing eight times more compared to average daily purchases. More than three lakh products including smartphones, beauty products, apparel, and everyday essentials, were delivered within the same-day or next-day.
The sale witnessed high demand from tier 2 and tier 3 cities, across categories including appliances, fashion and beauty, smartphones and furniture from brands such as Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, LG, Sony, Xiaomi, Daikin BIBA, Safari, American Tourister, Compton, IFB, Ariel, Eureka Forbes and more.
One in three customers used the SBI credit card EMI offers to make their purchase. Amazon also witnessed more than 40% growth in no cost EMI transactions with 90% of all EMI purchases for mobiles, washing machines, TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, video games being through the payment mode.
One in 11 orders were on Amazon Pay ICICI co-branded credit card this year. Amazon Pay UPI usage grew the highest ever at 16% year-over-year (YoY).
Customers also booked two times more flight tickets and 1.6 times more hotel bookings compared to last year during this time. Almost 50% of these bookings came from new customers.
“The first 48 hours of Amazon Great Indian Festival 2024 have been historic and the best ever for Amazon.in,” said Saurabh Srivastava, Vice President – Categories, Amazon India. “We are thrilled to witness the biggest ever opening with a record 11 crore customer visits, and the highest number of Prime members shopping during Prime early access.”
Small and medium businesses (SMBs), including women entrepreneurs, weavers, and artisans, sold over 1,500 units every minute during the first 48 hours. Over 65% of these sellers hail from tier 2, 3 cities and beyond.
More than 8,000 SMBs received their highest-ever single day sales. Additionally, over 20,000 SMBs doubled their sales as compared to an average day. Over 8,000 sellers surpassed Rs 1 lakh in sales within the first two days of the event.
“AGIF has always been our busiest season, especially since we primarily sell wooden temples,” said Ashwini Kumar, owner of Haryana Mart. “This year we saw a 100% increase in sales within the first 48 hours compared to normal days and nearly doubled the sales compared to last year.”
During the sale, over 75% of all smartphone purchases were made in tier 2 and 3 towns, with nearly 70% of smartphones priced more than Rs 30,000 being sold in cities from tier 2 and beyond. Nearly 80% of all television orders came from tier 2 and 3 cities with 50% customers opting for EMI laptops saw five times growth from tier 2 and 3 cities compared to tier 1.
For appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioners, tier 2 and 3 customers registered 1.4 times growth compared to tier 1 cities year-on-year (YoY).
Amazon’s fashion and beauty category saw more than 60% of new customers hailing from tier 2 and beyond cities contributing to over 55% of total orders placed within the first 48 hours.
Amazon Fresh experienced a 1.6 times growth in tier 2 and 3 cities compared to regular business. Additionally, there was a 2.5 times YOY increase in daily needs purchases, with 50% of all new shoppers originating from tier 2 cities and beyond.
More than 2 lakh customers purchased a mobile phone for the first time on Amazon.in while premium smartphones priced over Rs 30,000 saw the highest YoY growth of over 30% among all price segments with Apple, OnePlus and Samsung being the most preferred brands.
Customers upgraded to large screen televisions contributing to almost 50% of sales with Samsung, Xiaomi, Sony and LG emerging as the most preferred brands. In the first 48 hours, gaming laptops saw 19 times growth in sales compared to the pre-festive sale period.
Large appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners observed a 1.7 timed spike compared to business as usual (BAU) for customers availing exchange offers and 1.6 times spike for customers availing No Cost EMI offers.
Customers purchased over 35% more watches than usual days while premium watches witnessed over two-fold spike YoY.
Luggage witnessed over 6.5 times spike and trolley sets within luggage category witnessed 23 times spike led by brands like Safari, Samsonite Group, American Tourister and VIP.
Shoes, makeup and bath categories saw a 4-fold spike, while gold and diamond jewellery saw over 5 times YoY spike in demand vs BAU.
Categories like books, toys, grooming and gaming witnessed 150% new customer growth within the first two days of the sale.
Gen-Z focused direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands witnessed a spike of upto 2.5 times YoY, led by brands like Bewakoof, Juneberry, Lacoste, Pant Project, and Snitch.
This festive season, customers have shown an inclination to upgrade premium appliances like air fryers (35% YoY), smart fans (30% YoY), and garment steamers (30% YoY).
Within the first 24 hours of the sale, new customer sign-ups on Amazon Business surged 4.5 times above BAU. There was an 11-fold increase in paid Prime adoptions as businesses signed up to take advantage of early deals and free, fast shipping. Businesses also appreciated the quantity discounts offered by sellers and bulk orders grew 12 times higher than usual.
Amazon Bazaar, (a store for non-branded fashionable apparels and other products under Rs 600) daily shoppers grew 10 times as compared to pre-event daily averages. More than 50% of Bazaar shoppers shopped for the first time.
In terms of convenience, every customer who purchased appliances on Amazon, got a free extended warranty on their purchase. This season, Amazon has built an 8,000-strong workforce of authorised experts to offer in-home installation, setup and product diagnosis support.
Amazon India recently announced the launch of three new fulfilment centres in Delhi NCR, Guwahati, and Patna ahead of the festive season. The company also declared that it has created more than one lakh seasonal job opportunities across its operations network in the country.
