After two years of muted celebrations due to the Covid-19 pandemic, people not only went on a buying spree but also spent big amounts online this festive season after the ease of the restrictions on big gatherings.

Payment solution company Razorpay reveals the following data related to this year’s online festive spendings compared to those of last year’s.

Transactions increased by 21 per cent and Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) increased by 64.48 per cent. Consumers spent more per order lapping up deals on high-cost products

  • Compared to the last festive season, consumers have spent more per order with GMV increasing by 64.48 per cent (65 per cent) while at the same time the total number of transactions increased by 21 per cent only.
  • The GMV growth was the highest during evenings between 5-9 pm with it increasing by a whopping 81 per cent as compared to the last festive season GMV growth, the highest transaction growth was seen in the mornings between 5 am – 12 pm, growing at 27.12 per cent. This alludes to an interesting observation that mornings are when consumers make small ticket purchases like groceries while during evenings when they are more relaxed, they make larger ticket purchases.

High-value transactions see the highest growth at 51.41 per cent as compared to the previous festive season

  • The main reason why the GMV growth has been higher than the growth in transaction cost is that high-value transactions have seen the highest growth.
  • Transaction values greater than Rs 1 lakh have seen a whopping growth of 51.41 per cent as compared to the previous year
  • This was followed by transactions between the range of Rs 50,000 – Rs 1 lakh growing at 40.74 per cent as compared to the last festive season
  • What is also interesting is that transactions with a value below Rs 1,000 and between Rs 10,000-50,000 saw the lowest increase at 7.73 per cent and 0.50 per cent respectively. While mid-level transactions with a value between Rs 1,000-10,000 saw a decent growth of 35 per cent. This could be explained by the growth in sector-wise trends

E-commerce leads the growth – Consumers shifting to e-commerce for high-ticket purchases, witnessing a GMV growth of 75.78 per cent

  • E-commerce saw the highest GMV growth at 75.78 per cent, however, it had one of the lowest transaction count growths at 25.91 per cent. This shows that consumers are making high-ticket purchases through eCommerce. This is a promising development for luxury D2C and eCommerce brands since customer proclivity has increased towards such categories. Moreover, this also shows that consumer trust in digital payments through e-commerce has increased considering they are making high-ticket purchases online through eCommerce sites.
  • Gadgets and accessories seem to be the preferred choice for consumers during the festive season. The GMV growth for electronics has increased by a mere 34.09 per cent, however, transaction count growth has touched a whopping 77 per cent as compared to the last festive season
  • More people have opted for buying groceries and clothes online, both seeing decent growth in value and transaction count. Clothing saw a GMV growth of 64 per cent with a transaction count growth of 56 per cent. While groceries saw a GMV growth of 71 per cent with a transaction count growth of 44 per cent

“While many shoppers moved online during the pandemic, there were debates about whether this trend would sustain. With India having celebrated its first festive season, two years after the pandemic, it is now certain that online shopping is the norm. What is even more exciting for us to see is that the rigorous focus by the regulators to make the online digital payments ecosystems safer and more significant, the trust among consumers for digital payments has also resulted in a massive spike in shopping for high-value products online,” said Rahul Kothari, Chief Business Officer, Razorpay.

“We are looking into a new era of online shopping where greater trust, adoption, and convenience will be the next driver of growth for high-value products, D2C companies, quick commerce, and electronics brands. Supporting the majority of this segment, we are happy to be at the forefront of this new era,” he added.