Online sales to cross Rs 30,000 cr this festival season: Assocham

In the run up to the Diwali, Indian online consumers may spend more than Rs. 30,000 crore on top categories like mobile phones, electronic gadgets, consumer durables, apparel, home appliances and gift articles, says a survey by ASSOCHAM National Council on E-commerce.

The rise of high-speed internet has enabled more people from smaller towns to come online and buy goods this year. Also, smartphone use in the country has helped its e-commerce industry to grow, said D S Rawat, Secretary-General, The ASSOCHAM

According to the findings of the survey, while Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru lead in terms of the sales, a huge surge of interest was also registered from tier II and III cities like Pune, Gurgaon, Noida, Chandigarh Nagpur, Indore, Coimbatore, Jaipur, and Vishakhapatnam, which increased by 60-65% year-on-year.

The regular shoppers comprised mainly of people in the 18-25 years' age group, 55% in 26-35, 8% in 36-45 and 2% in the age group of 45-60, says the report. About 65% of online shoppers are male as against 35% female. As per the report, men and women between the age group of 25 and 34 years of age shop online the most during the festive season.

Mobile phones were the most bought product followed by electronic gadgets, consumer durables  and gift articles.

The survey, that took place across 10 cities -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Dehradun, had respondents ranging from professionals to officers to executives across various industry sectors including manufacturing, real estate, automobile, healthcare, retail, hospitality etc.

This festive season, shopping on ground has taken a back seat. There are various reasons for this, like changing lifestyle, lack of time, being away from home for work, nuclear families, etc. These have brought about a change in the festive shopping methods. Online shopping has brought about convenience and ease into the customers' lives.

About 65% of Delhiites prefer online shopping over the regular shopping this year with available deals online, than in brick-and-mortar stores, also giving advantage of free shipping with a "click" option.