Tier 3 Cities Drive Ecommerce Evolution in 2020, New Flipkart Report Reveals

Flipkart released a new report on Friday that shines a light on the evolution of e-commerce in 2020, the year in which the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted economies around the world. According to the e-commerce company, the pandemic has led millions of people to turn to online shopping platforms. The transition was not limited to the subways but also to level 3+ cities, he added.

From changes in category preferences, the emergence of ‘new essentials’ to the adoption of native languages and the surge of new-age payment methods, this year has witnessed a range of unique consumer trends. Flipkart said in its report. .

According to Flipkart, the company saw further user growth of almost 50% right after lockdown, with level 3+ regions showing the highest growth of 65% during the unlock phase (July to September period) . Level 2 and 3+ consumers have also exceeded the time spent on the platform. He also stressed that the adoption of mother tongues had multiplied by 2.5 between the pre-Covid period and the festive period (January to November 2020).

As expected, digital payments have also been high this year. UPI adoption on Flipkart increased 4.5X nationwide from January 2020 to August 2020, with Maharashtra taking the lead with 5.2X growth. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were the other states that were at the top of the list for UPI adoption on the Flipkart platform.

Even as consumers enjoyed more in-depth coverage of e-commerce platforms, sellers also tapped into the e-commerce platform. On Flipkart, there was an almost 35% increase in seller onboarding in 2020 compared to the same time last year. Interestingly, the new sellers were mainly from Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions such as Tirupur, Howrah, Zirakpur, Hisar, Saharanpur, Panipat, and Rajkot. They mainly catered for categories such as household needs, ethnic women’s clothing, grooming, home decor, and school toys and supplies.

Flipkart highlighted a shift in priorities for consumers before, during and after India’s Covid-19 lockdown.

Before Covid, the most sought-after products included personal care products, men’s clothing, footwear and women’s clothing. During the lockdown, food and nutrition, household, toys and audio products saw the highest demand, he added.