Prepaid purchases gaining traction in India

For the first time, cash is no longer king in India’s online shopping scene.

In a post-Diwali media release, India’s online marketplace Snapdeal reported that customers across India were willing to pay at the time of making the purchase instead of opting for cash on delivery.

“This was in part driven by Snapdeal’s partnerships with eight leading banks this Diwali including with American Express, Axis Bank, Citi Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, State Bank of India and Yes Bank,” the report noted.

These banks offered 10-25% additional instant discounts on each day of the sale in October. Data also showed that customers who bought electronics and furniture were the most likely to go for prepaid options.

Among the cities, Trivandrum had the highest share of prepaid orders, constituting a whopping 85% of the total orders from the city. But the preference for prepaid transactions was the strongest in South India, followed by North, West, and East in that order.

Snapdeal’s Unbox Diwali Sale was held from October 2-6. On the first 16 hours of the sale alone, Snapdeal reported more than 800,000 buyers from over 2,800 cities and towns across India, with sales volumes jumping six times the daily average. The orders went to nearly 50,000 sellers all over the country.

During the sale, the e-commerce giant said it recorded the fastest shipping track record by delivering an order within an hour. An order for iPhone 5s placed at 7.20 a.m. was delivered to the buyer in Gurgaon at 8.10 a.m.

To power faster deliveries, Snapdeal said nearly 72% orders were shipped out of its fulfillment centers (SD+). Nearly 32,000 people deployed every day of the month to deliver the packages across India.

On the seller side, out of the more than 300,000 sellers on the platform, more than 32,000 sellers saw sales grow 7X from last Diwali season. The cities where most of these sellers are based were: Delhi NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Bengaluru, Jaipur and Surat.

A little more than 60% orders came from Tier 2 cities and beyond. Moreover, over 82% of overall orders were placed through mobile platforms. The highest numbers of units ordered were for the fashion category, followed by home, electronics and mobiles in that order. In the fashion category, women’s’ ethnic wear was the most popular purchase.

Diwali or Deepavali is a Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year in autumn. People generally dress up and exchange gifts on Diwali night and shop during the festive period.