• D2C categories: Shiprocket sees festive demand across fashion, personal care, healthcare, small electronics, home décor and home improvements, with gifting growing. Hyperlocal, on-demand delivery is also boosting within-city gifting, which Gautam Kapoor expects to become bigger this Diwali.
• Smaller-town demand: Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns account for about 60% of activity through Shiprocket, and their contribution is steadily increasing.
• Season outlook: Kapoor said inventory movement and seller planning point to a great festive season. He noted that more D2C brands are focusing on festive sales outside marketplaces, but said figures were still to come.
• Sales timing: Kapoor said Shiprocket’s activity is spread across lakhs of sellers, categories and the festive season, rather than concentrated on one sale day or week. The discussion cited Meesho’s day-one update: orders up 75%, transacting customers up 60%, sellers up 63%, and mall orders up 200% year-on-year.