Big-ticket slowdown dents online festive cheer

Online festive sales have fallen short of even the industry’s muted expectations, which were already tempered by rising input costs that pushed up prices across categories and left little room for discounts. Gross merchandise value (GMV) in the run-up to Diwali grew 13-15% year-on-year (y-o-y), against the 20-25% growth industry analysts and executives had expected. While festive shoppers shifted their spending to lower-priced categories such as home decor, fashion, footwear, beauty and personal care, and grocery, growth in these could not make up for the value lost to the slowdown in smartphones, laptops and large appliances, multiple industry analysts and executives FE spoke to said.