Indian ecommerce companies sold 23% more this Black Friday: report

The Indian ecommerce ecosystem is estimated to have posted about 23% increase in sales over the Black Friday weekend compared to last year’s Black Friday weekend with fashion and beauty products ‘dominating’ sales, according to ecommerce enablement platform Unicommerce.

Websites run by individual brands saw order volumes rising by 28% during the weekend while marketplaces saw their order volumes expand 19%, Unicommerce data showed. “While during the Diwali festive sales, marketplace growth outpaced D2C (direct-to-consumer) brands, the trend was reversed during the Black Friday weekend,” it said in a statement.

Brands like H&M, Zara, and Puma, as well as platforms like Nykaa, Tata Cliq, and Flipkart-owned Myntra conducted Black Friday sales in India this year. Offline sellers like Vijay Sales, Croma and iNvent Store also had Black Friday sales on.


Gopal Asthana, chief executive of Tata Cliq, said categories like footwear and apparel, especially winter and western wear, did well on ecommerce platform Tata Cliq, while for the luxury platform Tata Cliq Luxury, categories like eyewear, home, watches, apparel and accessories performed well.

“On Tata Cliq Palette…products in categories like skincare, followed by fragrances and make-up, were the favourites,” Asthana told ET in an emailed interaction.

He did not share exact numbers.

In an emailed interaction with ET on November 25, Asthana had said the firm was targeting a 50% increase in revenue over the past year from the Black Friday sales for all three platforms run by it - the main platform, premium-focused Tata Cliq Luxury, and beauty and personal care focused Tata Cliq Palette.

Also read | Ecommerce companies, brands line up for Black Friday rush

In the US, Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving. It’s the busiest shopping day of the year and marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. The sale typically gets extended to the following Monday, called Cyber Monday.

On Tuesday, Unicommerce said the sale period also saw increased activity from beyond metro cities in India. While tier-III towns saw the highest growth of all geographies with a 43% surge, tier-II towns saw a 16% growth, and tier-I cities saw a 19% growth.

There was a “noticeable uptick” in categories like fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and eyewear during the sale, it said. Customers extended their “post-Diwali shopping spree” to continue buying during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, the firm added.

Even though the cultural nuance of Black Friday might not be fully understood by users beyond metro and tier-I cities, the discounts offered would still be compelling enough for customers to act on, Ashish Dhir, executive vice president for consumer and retail at market research firm 1Lattice had told ET on November 25. Online and offline markets in India were expected to see sales growing by over 70% in the week of Black Friday this year when compared to business as usual (BAU) weeks, he had said.