Diwali sales: Snapdeal clocks 52% growth in volume driven by non-metro cities

Driven by surge in orders from non-metros cities, e-commerce firm Snapdeal recorded 52 per cent growth in terms of volume during its first Diwali season sale over the last year. Nine out of every 10 orders received on the platform were from non-metro cities, the company said on Monday.

Snapdeal's first Diwali sale, which started on September 29 and ran for eight days till October 6, saw a surge in sales volume compared to last year's numbers. The company claimed that its platform reported more than 7.6 crore visits in a week which is more than its monthly average.

"Snapdeal concluded its first Diwali sale of 2019 with record orders received, showing a massive growth of 52 per cent over last Diwali volumes. Given Snapdeal's focus and leadership in the Bharat-focused value merchandise, nine out of every ten orders received on Snapdeal were from non-metro towns across India," news agency PTI quoted Snapdeal as saying this.

Snapdeal said the increase in volumes from smaller cities was a pan-India trend.  However, cities like Nagpur, Surat, Vijayawada, Chandigarh, Panaji, Jamshedpur, Shimla and Guwahati emerged as the new e-commerce hotspots, with orders surging at least four-fold over the previous year, it said.

Also Read: Flipkart's Big Diwali Sale 2019 to kick off on October 12: Discounts on smartphones, TVs and more

Over 120 cities and towns across the country registered at least 2 times volumes compared to last Diwali sales. These include cities like Satara, Anand, Bharuch & Pali (West India), Malerkotla, Roorkee, Jhansi & Haridwar (North India), Hazaribagh, Raniganj and Paradip (East India), Tezpur, Itanagar & Majuli (North-East India) and Khammam, Hassan, Miryalaguda and Bhimavaram (South India), Snapdeal said.

"All the sellers on Snapdeal are independent, third-party sellers and hence the growing volumes on our marketplace translate directly into greater opportunities for India's small and medium businesses," Kunal Bahl, CEO & Co-Founder, Snapdeal, said.

Also Read: Flipkart vs Amazon festive sales: E-commerce firms claim highest sales ever; most orders from small towns

Snapdeal will soon launch its second "Snap-Diwali" sale which will be live on October 11 and will run till October 13.

The company has also announced to launch three special e-stores later this month for forthcoming festivals of Karva Chauth, Dhanteras and Diwali, to cash in on the rising trend of online shopping. Each e-store will provide all festival essentials in one place - making shopping for traditional items simple and convenient, said a spokesperson of the online marketplace.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar with PTI inputs