Mumbai : E-commerce firms are expected to log a 28 per cent year-on-year growth in sales at USD 11.8-billion during the festive month this year, a report said on Thursday.

The festive month is generally defined as a period starting from the first sales event and lasting roughly till the Diwali week, including non-sale or business-as-usual days in between, according to Redseer.

This growth is expected to be driven by the doubling of online shoppers during festive sales as against 2018, Strategy Consulting firm Redseer said in its report.

“As the festive season is set to kickstart across the country, Redseer forecasts the online sales during the festive month to reach USD 11.8 billion, a 28 per cent increase from last year, it said.

Moreover, the category mix has been evolving differently in pre-festive months which will impact festive category mix as well, Redseer said in its report.

Redseer further said that in the first week itself, the sales are estimated to reach USD 5.9 billion, projecting a 28 per cent increase from last year, when they stood at USD 4.8-billion.

Noting that this year, the fashion category will see robust growth driven by an increasing shopper base from Tier 2+ cities and first-time shoppers who generally tend to begin their online shopping journey with fashion, it said, there will also be an increasing participation of fashion-led players in the festive sales this year.

The mobile and electronics category is expected to remain strong during the period driven by better deals and new launches, it said.

“We are forecasting 4x growth in the number of online shoppers from 2018. This growth has been driven by accelerated digital adoption and increasing penetration in Tier 2+ cities.

“We expect this expanded customer base to reflect in higher sales during the festive sales period as well,” says Sanjay Kothari, Associate Partner at Redseer Strategy Consultants.

“The doubling of online shoppers during the festive season is majorly due to increasing awareness of the festive sales among the shoppers, growing reach, targeted selection, and expansion of products within the affordability range for shoppers across city types,” Kothari added.

In addition, the launch of new e-commerce models such as live/video commerce will further drive the growth of online shoppers during the festive period.

The massive growth in festive sales will further push the overall online retail GMV (Gross Merchandise Value), which stood at USD 52 billion in 2021, to jump by 30 per cent to reach USD 68 billion in 2022, Redseer said in the report.