E-tail to take $1 billion hit in lockdown

BENGALURU: The 21-day lockdown will lead to a loss of at least $1 billion in gross sales as India’s largest online retail platforms like Amazon and Flipkart stop selling non-essentials till at least the middle of next month, based on current government directives. What’s of further concern is that the online retail players are expected to grow only by 5% this year, in the most optimistic scenario, compared to about 26% growth in the previous year to reach $23-24 billion in gross sales. Overall ecommerce sales, including movie tickets and other platforms, was $32 billion in 2019, according to market research firm Forrester’s data exclusively shared with TOI.

While online grocery is seeing a spike in orders, it constitutes only about 10% of overall sales for e-tailers. Last year, egrocery sales stood at about $2 billion.