Online festive sales slow as delivery dispatches fall 10-12% on higher gadget prices
Online delivery dispatches fell 10 to 12 per cent in the first 10 days of the big festive sales, as inflation and higher prices weighed on demand.
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New Delhi: Inflation has hit e-commerce and online shopping, along with markets, in the festive season. In the first 10 days of the big festive sales, such as Amazon's Great Indian Festival and Flipkart's Big Billion Days, online delivery dispatches fell 10 to 12 per cent compared with last year.
According to experts, demand has slowed in segments such as premium electronics, smartphones, laptops and home appliances. The main reason is that prices of these goods have risen 30 to 40 per cent over the past few months. Because of rising costs and thin margins, brands are unable to offer big discounts. If demand does not pick up in the coming days, this festive season could prove considerably weaker than expected for the e-commerce sector.
There was an initial expectation of heavy festive buying, but online festive sales now appear subdued as well. According to big e-commerce companies and direct-to-consumer brands, the total business value of e-commerce platforms in the first four days of the sales was about Rs 29,800 crore to Rs 30,900 crore. In the same period last year it was Rs 33,200 crore, which means a year-on-year fall of 7 to 10 per cent.
According to industry officials, categories such as smartphones and electronics usually account for more than half of total GMV during festive sales. The rise in prices in these large categories is therefore slowing the pace of the entire e-commerce industry.
Big e-commerce companies and direct-to-consumer brands say rising prices and limited discounts have reduced customer interest.
According to Counterpoint Research, sales in Diwali 2026 were 16 per cent lower, the biggest fall in the past several years. Everyone had expected a record in online sales, but the opposite happened. Smartphones and electronics have become costlier and freight charges have also gone up. For this reason, the average prices of iPhone, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi phones have now risen to Rs 35,000 to Rs 37,000.
