E-Commerce grew by 36 per cent in India in the last quarter of 2020: Unicommerce and Kearney Report

The last quarter of 2020 saw E-Commerce grow by 36 per cent in India according to a Report released by Unicommerce and Kearney. The growth is based on order volume in the period October to December 2020.

The Report findings show that the growth in E-Commerce in India has accelerated in light of COVID-19 and the effects of lockdown led to a massive change in consumer habits with many new shoppers and sellers coming online.

The report covered trends related to the overall e-commerce growth, region-wise consumer demand and direct-to-consumer (D2C) trends and how it affects the industry in the post COVID-19 world. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been widely visible ever since the lockdown was announced in March last year. The e-commerce industry has emerged as the backbone of the retail industry and small and big players have realised the immense potential that e-commerce holds.

The sector which made the most remarkable growth in this quarter was Personal care, Beauty and Wellness (PCB&W) segment which grew by 95 per cent. The other sector which showed good growth when compared on a year-on-year basis was FMCG & Healthcare (F&H) which grew by 46 per in Q4- 2020 according to the recently released Report.

The Report also showed that it was the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities which accounted for a 90 per cent YOY both on incremental volume and value growth.

The Report also points out to the fact that Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities reported significant gains in share of overall e-commerce. Sales Volume from these cities share grew to 46 per cent from 32 per cent and value share grew to 43 per cent from 26 per cent during the Q4 CY2020 as compared to the same period last year.

Even though the average order value (AOV) declined by five per cent in Q4-2020, E-Commerce in India grew by 36 per cent and 30 per cent YOY in terms of order volume and gross merchandise value (GMV) respectively, when compared to the same period last year.

The Report points out that Fashion and Accessories continues to be the largest segment by volume when it comes to E-Commerce in India. It reported a 37 per cent YOY in Q4-2020 as compared to the same period last year. With most Indians at home, the growth of Fashion and Accessories category was supported by the purchase of lower value products such as comfort wear and loungewear.

The lockdowns in India and the resultant reluctance to venture out resulted in many first-time online grocery shoppers as well as a sizeable increase in the orders, making it an important category for mainstream E-Commerce players like Flipkart and Amazon to actively focus and promote the grocery business.