At a time when demand for discretionary products across categories has been witnessing low single-digit sales over the past few quarters, e-Commerce brands have witnessed a surge of about 24%, largely driven by metros and beauty products, during the recently culminated Black Friday weekend, as opposed to the weekend before that.
Not only this, a fifth of November’s total GMV also came for these e-commerce majors from the Black Friday Sale weekend alone according to a GoKwik survey of 10,000 brands on their network, some of which include Lenskart, Mamaearth, Perfora, Neemans, Man Matters, Shoppers Stop, etc.
According to eCommerce enabler, this was largely driven by Tier 1 cities that saw a 33% GMV uplift during the Black Friday weekend.
Of all the categories, it was beauty and personal care products which stood out as the top-performing category, registering a 2X increase in GMV compared to the prior weekend mainly because of the high discounts that are usually offered in this category.
Following closely was the category of Footwears which witnessed a 53% growth and fashion and electronics which respectively saw a 23% uplift each.
That being said, as per the GoKwik survey it was the average order value (AOV) which also increased by 8% and was mainly driven by the beauty category, which saw a 26% increase in AOV.
Interestingly, credit-based payment methods that had seen an increase in adoption during the Diwali sale period saw a dip of 2.5% in the Black Friday sale period. COD GMV again saw an increase from 46% in the Diwali sale period to 65% in the Black Friday sale period. UPI continued to be the second most preferred mode of payment at 28.13%.
And shoppers continued to buy beauty products on COD during the black Friday sale period, a trend unchanged from the Diwali sale period. However, Fashion, which saw high adoption of credit-based payments during the Diwali sale period, recorded the majority of orders on COD in the black Friday sale weekend.
Mega cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Chennai, and Pune, led the charge during the Black Friday weekend, collectively recording a 60% increase in GMV. These cities, with their exposure to global pop culture and commerce, have embraced the Black Friday phenomenon more integrally.
Travel pouches were one of the most bought items during the black Friday sale weekend indicating people might be gearing up for vacation during the upcoming new year. Body scrubs, earphones, cotton shirts, reusable kitchen towels, and money magnate bracelets were some of the other most bought products during this sale weekend.
Commenting on the findings, Chirag Taneja, Co-founder and CEO, GoKwik, said, “Black Friday this year has become a significant event for eCommerce brands in India, catching up in scale and enthusiasm to its US counterpart. November end in India is a great time to run a sale event as it follows the slump in consumption post the major festive season ending in Diwali. Brands have understood the shopper sentiment, and the kinds of deals that motivate them, and have successfully revived demand through this sale period. In the next few years, we have the potential to become the second largest market for black friday sale period after the US.”
“The preference for COD is etched deep in shopper psyche, while new payment methods emerge and shoppers show interest in adopting those, COD is still extremely prevalent and will continue to be for the foreseeable future,” he added.
