Latest News | Shiprocket Records 188 Pc Growth in Online Sellers During Jul-Sep

New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) Logistics aggregator platform Shiprocket on Thursday said it has recorded 188 per cent growth in online sellers during the third quarter of 2020 compared to the previous three-month period, with more people opting for purchases over the internet.

The firm also recorded 214 per cent increase in direct-to-customer (D2C) sellers and over 100 per cent surge in shipments volume on year-on-year basis.

"With multiple drivers of growth in various segments, Shiprocket also noted a 188 per cent surge in online sellers during the third quarter of 2020, when compared to second quarter as a majority of people, began shifting from offline to online shopping, owing to the pandemic facilitating soaring usage of the Internet," Shiprocket co-founder and CEO Saahil Goel said in a statement.

According to a report compiled by Shiprocket, food, kitchen and dining, personal care, apparel like sportswear and shirts, electronic items such as mobile phones and covers, and healthcare products like face masks were the top five in-demand categories among sellers in 2020.

"We have seen a notable development in several verticals including the number of sellers who came online and the number of customers shopping online. As we gear up to step into 2021, it will be interesting to see the D2C sector steering the e-commerce and logistics sectors," Goel said.

He further said that although 2020 has been a challenging year overall, the D2C e-commerce segment has seen a major boom in business with sellers and consumers opting for more digitised services.

Based on merchant mapping conducted by Shiprocket, with a sample size of over 85,000 sellers, 48 per cent of shippers opted for cash-on-delivery and express delivery for their orders during the year, the report said.

Shiprocket found that around 51 per cent of the sellers on its platform were from tier-II and tier-III cities and nearly 49 per cent from tier-I cities.

"Online stores such as Shopify, Magento, Woocommerce, etc., contributed to over 32 per cent of the total traction while social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram contributed to almost 35 per cent.

"Moreover, there was considerable traction from offline sellers, who contributed to over 19 per cent, and marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon, Etsy, etc that comprised over 12 per cent of total traction," the report said.

Shiprocket claims to have added almost 68,000 new merchants in 2020, taking the total number to over 85,000.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)