Whenever the festive season starts in India, there emerges great competition between companies to attract the attention of the consumers. In the past few years, festive season shopping was primarily driven by ecommerce portals which provided offers, discounts and plenty of products suitable for the festive occasion. However, in the last few years, a relatively young model called quick commerce or Q-commerce has quickly risen to the challenge and promises customers instant gratification. Therefore, in the battle of festive shopping, is the ecosystem able to cope with the new benchmark set by Q-commerce?
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The Rise of Quick Commerce:
E-commerce business, especially, the quick commerce business model, has gained immense traction in the country in the last couple of years. While normal e-commerce promises to deliver products within several days ranging from 2- 7, Q-commerce targets to deliver the products within hours. Delivery apps like Zepto, Dunzo, Blinkit, and Swiggy’s Instamart have set new bars to the conventional ideas of convenience by making groceries, essentials, care, and household products delivered to the doorstep instantly. Increasingly, more consumer visit these services for the last-minute shopping of their festive arrangements, therefore Q commerce grows.
Whether it is sweets, party items or groceries for a family gathering, Indian customers are using these ultra-fast delivery apps to get their shopping done swiftly.
The following are some reasons why speed matters during festive seasons in India:
Thus, festive shopping in India is not only consumers’ carefully thought-through purchases but also impulse buying behaviour. Indian festive seasons like Diwali, Navratri, and Dussehra give a boost in the consumer pull products Desired products including traditional apparel, Sweets, gifts, home décor, etc. While purchases could be planned to be made at some time in the future, there are those which are needed instantly during events such as festivals.
Consider when you are short of some recipe ingredients in the middle of preparing some delicious dish for Diwali or when you forget gifts. This is an area where Q commerce excels as consumers are likely to be attracted to the speeds as highlighted by the struggle that conventional m-commerce sites are likely to face, especially during occasions that may witness a surge in traffic.
Strengths of Ecommerce in Indian Festive Shopping:
However, it is possible to notice that classic ecommerce platforms still have numerous major benefits in India even with the emergence of Q-commerce. It is also very populated with giant players like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Snapdeal, and Meesho selling everything from electronics, fashion accessories and clothing to home appliances and jewelry. This also helps them to prepare for operations during the festive season through getting into agreements with brands, and sellers to discount and provide special offers.
Here are some key upcoming festive sales to watch:
Amazon Great Indian Festival: Being a sale that offers huge cut-price on electronics, fashion, home decor, and other products, this sale is highly awaited in the Indian e-commerce market. It often takes place every Diwali and entails other offers including no-cost EMI and cash-back via bank tie-ups.
Flipkart Big Billion Days: Another big sale which awaits customers is Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale which specialises in cutting down prices on product types including electronics, communication, home appliances, apparel, and accessories. Such privileges as the New Product Launches, Flash Sales, and Instant Discounts through Partner Banks are typical.
Meesho Maha Indian Diwali Sale: Established in early 2015, Meesho has captured the markets’ imagination in a short time span by wearing out its tagline of affordable fashion, home utilities, and products related to festive seasons. Because of the millions of small business sellers and individual suppliers at Meesho, it is cheap to purchase variety products for festivals during their Maha Indian Diwali Sale.
Myntra Big Fashion Festival: Big Fashion Festival on Myntra is what every fashion enthusiast would look forward to as it has great discounts on apparel, accessories and make-up. It is the right seasonal sale to shop for clothes to wear during the Diwali festival and ethnic wear.
E-commerce platforms best suit the shopping needs of consumers, this is because they allow consumers to make informed decisions, they offer ratings and reviews, personalized recommendations and even product comparisons from different sellers. It also has the option to make returns and refunds easily, which favours the periods of festivities.
Challenges for Ecommerce:
The last two concerns are related to the more traditional factors of delivery – herein referring to speed. A major concern which affects the ecommerce business of India, in particular during the festive season is courier delivery time. Conventional melting-pot business models whereby customers select goods they want, check out and are expected to wait for delivery the next day or after two days are inadequate to compete in the instant gratification world.
In response, major players are investing heavily in logistics to overcome the challenges that they face in their supply chains. Some of the brands that offer same-day delivery include Amazon Prime Now which offers same-day delivery in some of the countries while Flipkart Quick offers delivery in 90 minutes for some products. These initiatives assist in addressing the problem but might not capture the speed of delivery of Q-commerce.
Can Ecommerce Keep Up?
As Q-commerce is steadily increasing, regular E-commerce platforms are not staying idle. Although they offer a vast number of products, great prices during the festive season, together with affordable financing, they are still a one-stop shop. However, due to the rising trend among Indian consumers of preferring speed and convenience, it becomes imperative for the e-commerce players to keep on innovating.
Conclusion
E-commerce and quick commerce are two primary categories battling for the largest share of the consumer’s wallet during festive seasons in India. Q-commerce is coming up with deliveries in minutes which is relatively unthinkable while conventional e-commerce platforms are reigning with choices, discounts, and cost. Starting from the Indian shoppers preparing for the Diwali and Navratri parties, they will be witnessing a more competitive and fluid market than before.
