How e-Commerce Giants Kicked Off The 2024 Festive Season Flipkart recorded 330 million visits during early access and day 1, Amazon recorded 110 million customer visits within the first 48 hours of its sale, Meesho stated 65 million visitors and Myntra enjoyed 120 million visitors during the same period.
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As India entered the festive season of 2024, e-Commerce platforms witnessed an extraordinary surge in consumer demand, driven by attractive offers, financing options and a rapidly growing online shopper base. The competition between major players like Flipkart, Myntra, Meesho and Amazon has led to a shopping frenzy, delivering record-breaking performances across various categories.
The festive season sales have reflected an extraordinary rise in consumer spending, with early estimates suggesting that sales from September 26th to 28th alone crossed INR 26,500 crore, accounting for 26 per cent of the expected total festive sales, as per a report by Datum Intelligence. The bulk of the demand came from mobile devices, electronics and consumer durables, with an impressive 79 per cent of sales generated by these categories. Offers like no-cost EMIs and exchange deals have been a significant driving force behind this surge.
Notably, this season also highlighted the expanding role of smaller cities in online shopping, as brands witnessed growing demand from non-metro regions, showing that e-Commerce is no longer restricted to urban consumers. Let us take a closer look at how the giants fared against each other in the initial days:
Flipkart's Big Billion Days
Flipkart kicked off its highly anticipated 11th edition of The Big Billion Days (TBBD) in September, with early access starting a day earlier for VIP and Plus customers. The initial days of the sale reflected massive consumer enthusiasm, with over 33 crore (330 million) visits recorded during Early Access and Day 1. Early trends indicated booming demand across categories such as mobiles, electronics, large appliances, fashion, beauty and home products.
Metro cities like New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru led the charge in consumer activity, but the sale also penetrated deeper into India's heartland with notable demand from smaller cities like Medinipur, Hisar, Berhampore, Bankura and Agartala.
"By deepening our engagement with consumers and ecosystem partners, we are pushing the boundaries of what is achievable, while setting new standards for customer satisfaction and business success. Some of the early trends indicate an increase in demand for categories that enable a lifestyle upgrade; and Tier II+ cities have been showing growth in the run up to this year's festive season," Harsh Chaudhary, vice president-growth, Flipkart, stated in a release.
In addition to Flipkart's main platform, its hypervalue platform Shopsy recorded a 70 per cent increase in customer visits and a 2.8 times rise in transactions compared to the pre-festive season. Popular categories such as lifestyle, apparel, home & kitchen doubled in sales and beauty & personal care experienced a three times increase in demand.
Moreover, Flipkart's newly launched Flipkart Minutes, a hyperlocal delivery service, saw 25-40 per cent of electronics sales in metro cities being fulfilled through this service. As the e-Commerce giant continues to support sellers, especially MSMEs, through its Flipkart Samarth programme, 75 per cent of sellers reported a multi-fold growth in orders during the sale.
Amazon's Great Indian Festival
Amazon India experienced a record-breaking 110 million customer visits within the first 48 hours of its sale, with 80 per cent of traffic coming from tier-II cities and smaller towns, according to a company statement. The event also saw the highest number of Prime members shopping across various categories, with purchases during the first 24 hours of Prime Early Access increasing by eight times compared to typical business days.
Over 300,000 products—including apparel, smartphones, beauty items and everyday essentials—were delivered either on the same day or the next. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) sold over 1,500 units per minute during this period, with more than 8,000 sellers surpassing INR 100,000 in sales. Notably, more than 65 per cent of sellers receiving orders were from tier-II and tier-III cities. EMI options played a key role in driving upgrades, with 1 in 5 purchases made through EMI, and 80 per cent of those being No Cost EMI.
Meesho Mega Blockbuster Sale
Meesho, another e-Commerce platform that is rapidly growing in India, achieved success with its Mega Blockbuster Sale in the same period. The company recorded a 100 per cent increase in Day 1 orders compared to last year, along with a 3 times the surge in daily orders. In the lead-up to the sale, 1.5 crore (15 million) app downloads made Meesho the most downloaded app on the Google Play Store, underscoring its growing dominance.
Megha Agarwal, general manager, business at Meesho, expressed in a statement, "We achieved a record-breaking feat of doubling our Day 1 orders over last year. Not just that, Meesho Mall also grew ~2.5 times in orders over last year."
During the sale, nearly 6.5 crore (65 million) customers visited the platform, shopping across categories such as fashion, personal care & beauty, home & kitchen and electronic accessories. Meesho Mall, the platform's premium shopping destination, saw 2.5 times the growth in orders, with 45 per cent of these orders coming from first-time shoppers.
Myntra's Big Fashion Festival
Myntra, one of the leaders in fashion and lifestyle e-Commerce, also delivered a stellar performance with its Big Fashion Festival. The platform saw a record 120 million visitors during early access and Day 1 of the sale, underscoring its popularity among fashion enthusiasts. New user acquisition was particularly strong, with 15 times more users joining the platform compared to normal business days, and 2 times the spike in orders per minute during the peak hour.
During the sale's first hour, shoppers bought 700 T-shirts, 420 jeans, 330 pairs of shoes, and 100 lipsticks per minute, showing high demand for fashion and beauty products. Categories like beauty & personal care and sports footwear saw more than a 50 per cent increase in demand, while home and wearables witnessed over 100 per cent rise compared to last year.
Myntra's loyalty programme, Myntra Insiders, also played a key role in driving early access sales, with 5.5 times more Insiders shopping in the first two hours compared to typical days, the company said in a press release.
The shift in consumer behaviour—embracing e-Commerce for everything from fashion to electronics—marks an exciting era for India's digital economy. With these record-breaking numbers, it's clear that the festive season continues to be a crucial driver of growth for the country's e-Commerce giants. As platforms refine their offerings and expand to more regions, we can only expect these trends to continue rising in the coming years.
