Amazon India’s Prime Day Sale witnessed greater participation in the wake of COVID-19

Amazon India witnessed greater participation of buyers and sellers from smaller cities and towns during its two-day ‘Prime Day’ sale event, keeping in line with the surge in online sales since the start of decade. The e-commerce giant said the Prime Day event this year saw more than twice as many customers signing up for its premium ‘Prime’ membership compared with 2019, with over 65% of new members from outside the top 10 metropolitan cities.

Amazon India witnessed greater participation of buyers and sellers from smaller cities and towns during its two-day ‘Prime Day’ sale event, keeping in line with the surge in online sales since the start of decade.

The e-commerce giant said the Prime Day event this year saw more than twice as many customers signing up for its premium ‘Prime’ membership compared with 2019, with over 65% of new members from outside the top 10 metropolitan cities. Many customers were from Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, Leh in Ladakh, Dholpur and Sirohi in Rajasthan, Koraput in Odisha, among others.

Personal computing, electronic appliances, smartphones, apparel and pantry categories were among that sold maximum units, the company said. Fitness-at-home products like treadmills and home gyms also saw a spike in sales and the launch of Decathlon products on the platform sold well.

“This Prime Day was dedicated to our small business (SMB) partners, who have been increasingly looking to Amazon to keep their businesses running. This was our biggest Prime Day ever for small businesses – nearly 1 Lakh SMB sellers (70% from small towns) received orders from across 97% of India’s pin codes. Karigar artisans, Saheli women sellers, Launchpad entrepreneurs, and Local Shops enjoyed their highest ever day of sales,” said Amit Agarwal, senior vice president and country manager, Amazon India.

Agarwal attributed the success of the event to a mix of factors, including value for money, product availability, and ease of buying on the site. The coronavirus induced lockdown has pushed many consumers towards e-market, thus providing an opportunity to e-commerce players like Amazon, Flipkart, BigBasket to strive for better service and wide coverage all over the country.