Republic Day sales 18.7% higher than last year

The analysis was made by Unicommerce, India’s leading e-commerce enablement SaaS platforms, based on the items processed through its platform during the nine days (13th to 21st January) of the Republic Day Sale.

This surge reflects the shopping enthusiasm among consumers at the very start of the year, Unicommerce said in apress release.

The growth of e-commerce during the Republic Day sale has been supported by attractive deals and nationwide marketing campaigns done by leading marketplaces, according to the release.

This has helped marketplaces record an impressive year-on-year (YoY) order item growth of 28.7%, during the period. Brand websites, on the other hand, reported a muted YoY growth of 1.7%, while average order value continue to showcase strong growth

As per the orders processed through Unicommerce’s platforms, Northeast states reported high growth rates, with Nagaland and Meghalaya taking the lead to become the top two states in terms of order volume growth.

Consumer familiarity with e-commerce was evident in the 20.6% surge in prepaid orders, with Cash-on-Delivery (COD) orders growing by 16.2% during the sale period.

After a strong performance in the last quarter of the calendar year, the Republic Day sale kicked off the new year on a high note for the growing e-commerce industry.

In 2023, the Black Friday weekend saw a fantastic 23% surge in e-commerce orders volume compared to the 2022 Black Friday sale weekend. The festive season sale of 2023 also rocked with a whopping 37% growth in order volumes compared to the festive sale period in 2022.

Black Friday, traditionally an American retail tradition, has firmly cemented its place in the Indian market as a major e-commerce sale event, with consumers extending their post-Diwali shopping spree to benefit from Black Friday and related sales like Cyber Monday etc.

While during the Diwali festive sales, marketplace growth outpaced D2C brands, the trend was reversed during the Black Friday weekend. During the Black Friday weekend, brand websites reported robust growth, with order volumes rising by 28% during the weekend, according to the analysis.

The marketplaces reported a relatively lower growth of 19%. The growing popularity of Black Friday has made it a crucial sales period for both online marketplaces and individual brands in India.

Commenting on the Republic Day trends, Unicommerce MD & CEO of Kapil Makhija said, "The consistent e-commerce growth affirms the strength and potential of India's e-commerce industry. E-commerce continues to become a larger part of the retail ecosystem and sellers are focusing on both online and offline sale channels, in tune with the evolving shopping habits of buyers. ”

Unicommerce is India’s largest e-commerce enablement SaaS platform in the transaction processing layer, in terms of revenue for the financial year concluded March 2022.

The company’s suite of SaaS solutions enables end-to-end management of e-commerce operations for brands, retailers, marketplaces and logistics service providers.

The company has a growing Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)and Revenue.

As of the quarter ending September 2023, Unicommerce has achieved a 750 million+ Annual Transaction run-rate, serving over 350 customers, managing 8000+ warehouses, and processing orders from 1900+ stores through its platform.