Online ‘festive season’ sales hit record high in India: Oath study

29% YoY increase in sales in September 2018

Millennials Indians between 25-34 lead shopping frenzy

‘Electronics’ is top seller, fuelled by demand for smartphones and headphones

‘ECommerce Prime Services’ is top-growing product category

Brands matter along with price for online shoppers

Oath, a Verizon subsidiary, today announced its findings on online shopping trends during the festive season in India. The study uncovers surprising insights into the Indian consumer’s choices and behavior during the country’s main online shopping season, during which top e- commerce brands go to battle with massive discounts and innovative sales.

Oath has several popular media brands in India, including HuffPost, Yahoo Cricket, Tumblr, Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Mail. The findings are based on data points across these brands and an in-depth understanding of consumer behaviour based on content consumption by users. Globally, Oath sees more than 200 billion data points every day and reaches one billion people around the world.

The online shopping season in India is thought to begin with Dussehra around October and go all the way up to Christmas and New Year. However, Oath data reveals that the online shopping burst begins as early as mid-September, when Indians actively begin filling their shopping carts.

Huge momentum in the festive season continues to catalyse the explosive growth of online shopping in India. Sales increased 29% year-over-year in September 2018, setting a record high for India’s festive shopping season online.

Indian online shoppers love to buy Electronics online, bargain hunting for festive season discounts. 42% of shoppers bought an electronic item, making it the top selling category. Smartphones and headphones were the most popular items they checked out. In a growing trend, online shopping is becoming a part of “daily life” for shoppers. FMCG comes in second after Electronics as a best-selling category, with shoppers buying their everyday products online, from sugar to shampoo.

“The huge volume of data points across our brands gives us a comprehensive understanding of consumers in India and their behaviour. These deep insights in turn are helping our advertisers to make sense of audiences’ preferences and market trends at a very strategic level, to put in place data-driven marketing strategies during this crucial season.” says Erin Chao, Head of Platforms, APAC, Oath.

India’s online festive shoppers are predominantly male, at 79% — in line with the ratio of men and women online shoppers in India. Tech-savvy Millennials between 25-34, with greater purchasing power, tend to shop more online during festivals. They come in ahead of  other age brackets during this season.

2018 key insights and online shopping trends during India’s festive season, based on Oath data:

• Online festive shopping begins as early as mid-September. Sales increased 29% year-over-year in September 2018 — a record high for India’s online festive shopping season.
• Gen Y leads shopping frenzy: Tech-savvy Millennials between 25-34, with greater purchasing power, tend to shop more online during festivals. They adapt easily to new technology and are bargain hunters who zero in on the big discounts during the festive season. 
• At 42%, Electronics leads as the top-selling category online, with smartphones and headphones as top buys. Popular smartphone brands in India include Redmi, MI, Samsung and MOTO.
• At 12% Baby and Toddler products come in second after Electronics! Indians are heaping their carts with diapers, pants and wipes.
• FMCG is a best seller: Shoppers are increasingly buying everyday products online, like sugar, shampoo, salt and toothpaste.
• Indian online shoppers pay attention to hair care. Hair conditioner and hair-fall defense shampoos are both popular products. Shoppers also buy beauty products like whitening creams, face-restoring creams, body lotion and UV protection products online.
• The top growing product category online is ECommerce prime services, with 4X growth YoY. More and more online shoppers are purchasing ECommerce prime services, which signals they not only care about the price, but also the service quality and guarantee.
• Online bestsellers are well-known brands, implying price is not the only factor, but brands matter for Indian online shoppers.

About Oath

Oath, a subsidiary of Verizon, is a values-led company committed to building brands people love. Oath reaches one billion people around the world with a dynamic house of media and technology brands. A global leader in digital and mobile, Oath is shaping the future of media and technology.For more on Oath, visitwww.oath.com.