Amazon India records high growth in premium product sales during festival period

Demand for premium products across categories, including television, smartphones, and large appliances, dominated the Diwali season sale during the Amazon Great Indian Festival (AGIF) 2024 that commenced on September 27, a senior company official said on Saturday.

Amazon India Vice President Saurabh Srivastava told PTI that the company recorded 10 times growth in Apple iPad sales and five times growth in Samsung tablets during the Amazon Great Indian Festival 2024.

"One clear trend that was there is premiumisation. When we look at it, whether it is televisions or fashion and beauty, gaming laptops, home and kitchen appliances, we have seen a clear trend of premiumisation. People are preferring more premium products. Again, this is not limited to just top cities," Srivastava said.

He said large-screen TVs contributed to about 30% of the total unit sales in the segment, and there was 10 times growth in their demand on a year-over-year basis, with Samsung, Xiaomi, and Sony emerging as the most preferred TV brands.

"In tablets, Apple and Samsung are premium products. Apple tablets grew 10 times, and Samsung tablets 5 times year on year (YoY). When you think about large appliances, obviously, these are washing machines and refrigerators and ACs, but premium ones like front-load washing machines, or side-by-side refrigerators, or bigger than 1.5-ton ACs, grew 30% YoY," Srivastava said.

He said the fashion and beauty segment recorded a 400% spike in premium categories across watches, fragrances, handbags, Korean beauty, jewellery, luggage, etc.

Srivastava said the company registered 20% more customers visiting during AGIF 2024 compared to the festive season sale during the same period a year ago.

"The Amazon Great Indian Festival 2024 witnessed 140 crore customer visits—the highest ever. More than 85% of customers were from non-metro cities," Srivastava said.

Amazon India saw 50% year-on-year growth in B2B customers who made their first purchase from Amazon Business.

"AGIF 2024 also set new milestones for seller success and witnessed more than 70% increase in sellers surpassing a crore in sales compared to last year. The online marketplace bolstered its fast delivery capabilities, delivering over 3 crore products to Prime members across India within the same or next day, a 26% increase from the previous year," he said.

Amazon India said in a statement that 70% of Prime members who shopped during the festive season were from Tier II and III cities compared to 60 per cent last year.