Unbelievable Losses on Cards for E-Tailers in India?

The 21-day lockdown will lead to a loss of at least $1 billion in gross sales to the etailers in India. The country’s largest online retail platforms like Amazon and Flipkart have stopped selling non-essential goods at least till the middle of next month.

Online retail players are expected to grow only by 5% this year, in the most optimistic scenario, compared to about 26% growth in the previous year to reach $23-24 billion in gross sales. Even though there is a demand for online grocery, they constitute only about 10% of the overall sale of the e-tailers.

Online platforms see $50-60 million in daily sales around this time of the year, which for several players is down to zero. Smartphones, large appliances, electronics, and fashion are the top drivers of gross sales for e-tailers, contributing 60-70% of the total.

Even after things normalize, people are not expected to spend as much since there are predictions of a recession and job losses.