Monsoon e-retail: Indian shoppers prioritise safety
<br>According to e-commerce platform Snapdeal, the early trends of monsoon-related products sold online reflect a marginal dip in the demand for outdoor products like raincoats and umbrellas, compared to last year, but the sale of safety-related monsoon products has increased multi-fold. The sale of bike and car covers for the monsoon is trending and two times higher than last season. Priced at Rs 300-1,500, orders for this has surged especially as many vehicles are not in regular use.
The three highest selling monsoon-linked products on the platform are insect repellent products like mosquito nets, mosquito rackets and a range of insect repellent sprays and lotions. The sale of these products is more than 3.5X of last year and continues to grow.
Similarly, “clothes drying stands, exhaust fans, RO machines (and accessories), floor wipers are selling in increased quantities as users try and keep their homes dry and well ventilated. Temperature and humidity meters have emerged as the hot sellers this year.
“The sale of other popular products including monsoon essentials like umbrellas, raincoats, zip-lock pouches, mobile covers, and waterproof covers for laptop bags picked up in June, as many users join work again post the unlock phase,” Snapdeal shared with IANSlife.
Coming to fashion and footwear, monsoon footwear especially floater sandals have been a popular pick this season. Most raincoats sold this year have been in adult sizes as children stay indoors due to online classes.
It added: The sale of immunity-boosting products continues to be strong as the monsoon season is traditionally associated with water-borne diseases. Power banks and emergency lights were also picked up as power cuts increase in many parts of India during the season.
Room fresheners, odor absorbing sachets, and fragrances sachets for home and wardrobe were also widely purchased. Enthusiastic gardeners also searched for monsoon veggie seeds. A majority of the monsoon-centric products were below the rupees 800 range. Umbrellas below rupees 400, raincoats below rupees 700, and bike covers below rupees 500 were most popular.
“While many buyers are avoiding visiting crowded markets, it is a win-win for our sellers and buyers. The increase in demand has led to a direct increase in volumes of our sellers, all of whom are independent third-party sellers. We are happy to be the bridge between online and offline where both buyers and sellers are able to transact from the safety of their homes and establishments,” a Snapdeal spokesperson said adding that most monsoon item orders come from Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, and Kerala.
(Siddhi Jain can be contacted at siddhi.j@ians.in)
–IANS<br>sj/tb/
