GoKwik, an e-commerce enabler revealed that the first phase of the holiday shopping season saw a 20 per cent rise in order volume across its network of over 1000 businesses compared to the same period last year. Even with the increase in orders, the non-deliverability rate for COD orders, or return-to-origin rate, has decreased by 26 per cent, demonstrating the effectiveness of GoKwik's solutions in reducing RTO losses for these businesses. 

“We are seeing a remarkable growth in order volumes across categories in our network. Q4 is expected to be even bigger. Fashion brands are spearheading this growth in volume, closely followed by the beauty and personal care category. We are seeing many smaller D2C brands also participating in festive sale events this year riding on the positive consumer sentiments”, said Chirag Taneja, co-founder and CEO of GoKwik.

According to the numbers available with the enabler, the fashion segment witnessed the biggest rise in terms of order volume among all the categories with a record increase of 148 per cent. This festive season, shoppers in the GoKwik network took advantage of 12.1 per cent more discounts than they did the year before. As a result of the availability of various prepaid discounts, awards, and loyalty points to the customers, overall GMV increased by 53.3 per cent, with prepaid GMV rising by 2X. The largest portion of these prepaid payments were made via UPI, the second most popular payment method in India behind cash.     

The states that contributed the most to the surge in order volume included Maharashtra which accounted for the majority of these orders (12 per cent) followed by Uttar Pradesh (7.8 per cent) and Karnataka (7.3 per cent), the company said.

The cash on-delivery GMV also increased by almost 40 per cent with the highest contribution from fashion brands. The preference for COD amongst Indian shoppers continues mostly due to a lack of trust, especially during the festive period when orders are usually delayed as a result of high demand. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, and Gujarat were the top contributors to COD orders, it added. 

Recently, Axis My India released a report that indicated around 44 per cent of the shoppers participating in festive sales are expected to spend more than the previous year. The company said that this trend has been seen in its network too. Along with the surge in order volume, the spending limit of the shoppers has seen an uplift. The average order value increased by 29.4 per cent this season compared to last year. As more GenZs enter the workforce, this number is further expected to see an uplift as the festive season reaches its prime.   

Data and technology-led GoKwik houses 1000+ eCommerce brands in its network including Lenskart, Pilgrim, Bombay Shaving Company, Shopper’s Stop, Snitch, Neemans, Mivi, etc.