Surge in air purifier sales in India as pollution levels rise during winter season 2023

Air purifier sales have surged in India as worsening pollution levels have pushed consumers to seek clean air, while the onset of winter has raised demand for seasonal appliances, reported TOI’s Rupali Mukherjee.

Blinkit, Zepto, Instamart and other quick-commerce platforms are also seeing a spike in demand, with consumers in Tier 2 cities contributing to the growth, analysts and industry experts told TOI.

TOI, citing 1DigitalStack, a market intelligence platform, reported that daily sales of winter appliances on Q-commerce touched Rs 29 lakh in October, which is a 55% hike from September and 50% increase over October last year.


Air purifiers saw a month-on-month increase, with daily sales jumping 3.7 times to ₹9.6 lakh, while room-heater sales had risen 1.6 times to nearly ₹10 lakh.

"We are projecting a robust 31% year-on-year growth for the winter appliance category - specifically geysers, room heaters and electric kettles across e-commerce platforms. This season's surge is heavily catalyzed by the flagship annual festive sales on Amazon and Flipkart marketplaces, which have shifted consumer behaviour towards front-loading their winter utility purchases to maximise discounts," Samiran Mathur, VP insights and strategy at 1DigitalStack told TOI.

Read more: Cars to clogs: Dhanteras brings out best retail day of year; takes festive value sales up 20%

The newspaper also pointed to air purifier sales on Amazon doubling over the past week, while sales across e-commerce platforms improved 1.4 times in September-October compared with the corresponding period last year.

Additionally, the company noted that current demand for these appliances are just a fraction of the expected peak. It highlighted that the previous year’s quick commerce winter appliance market had jumped 5.7 times from October to November, eventually hitting peak sales in January, which was ten times higher than the October baseline, TOI reported, citing data.

Read more: Lower prices add glitter to Dhanteras gold sales

"With the onset of winters, we are seeing air-purifier sales on Amazon.in growing 2x in the last week. Customers are using Rufus, our personalised AI shopping assistant, to find the right fit. To serve immediate needs, we have expanded our air purifier selection on Amazon Now," an Amazon India spokesperson told TOI.

The newspaper reported an early start to the seasonal buying cycle and highlighted that online sales are expected to rise further as the season progresses, noting that about 3 in 10 winter appliance sales are registered online.

(With inputs from TOI)