E-commerce sales to touch Rs 11,000-13,000 crore in Oct: RedSeer

New Delhi: Driven by festive offers and discounts on their platforms, e-commerce companies are expected to register transactions worth Rs 11,000-13,000 crore (USD 1.7-1.9 billion) in October, a report said.

"E-tailers are likely to surpass all sales expectations in the ongoing festive sale days and for the month of October 2016 as a whole...As a result of the bumper sales performance of e-tailers, the gross GMV for e-tailing industry is likely to be Rs 6,500-7,700 crore (USD 1-1.2 billion) for the ongoing festive week (October 1- 6)," research firm RedSeer Consulting said in its report.

It added that almost 35-40 million units are expected to be sold in this six-day period.

"Driven by this strong festive week performance, the industry GMV for the entire festive month of October 2016 is expected to be Rs 11,000-13,000 crore (USD 1.7-1.9 billion) or USD 20-23 billion in annualised run-rate terms," it said.

RedSeer had earlier pegged the industry GMV at USD 1.5-1.7 billion for October or USD 18-20 billion for the year.

"These latest forecasts reflect the stronger than expected sales performance of e-tailers across categories. This sales performance comes at a critical period for Indian e-tailers, as growth in the sector had stagnated over the last couple of quarters," RedSeer said.

The annualised GMV for e-commerce companies had fallen 5-10 per cent in the second quarter of 2016.

Amazon.In's festive sale had started from October 1 and closed yesterday. Its rivals, Flipkart and Snapdeal, which started rolling out festive offers from October 2, will end their sale today.

The US-based e-tailer said sales on its platform in India grew three-fold compared to last year to over 15 million units during its five-day festive sale.

Similarly, on Tuesday, Flipkart said it had crossed a "historic first" for an e-commerce company in India, crossing Rs 1,400 crore sales on its platform in a single day.

Industry experts are of the view that these companies may announce more such festive sale days closer to Diwali.

The e-commerce companies had made significant investments in ramping up products on their platforms as well as delivery and logistics capabilities to ensure the operations run smoothly.

Both Snapdeal and Flipkart have said they have created about 10,000 temporary jobs each, especially in logistics and supply chain to meet the surge in demand.

"Our research shows that the ongoing festive sales week has proved to be a tremendous success for e-tailers. Customers, both regular shoppers and first-timers, have come online to shop in millions, from across the length and breadth of the country," RedSeer Consulting CEO Anil Kumar said.

He added that as a result of this bumper sales performance, the industry is on track to deliver the single biggest month for Indian e-tailing sector ever in October 2016.