With e-commerce delivery of non-essential items being allowed in green and orange zones across the country, sellers of Snapdeal and Flipkart have started seeing a surge in orders for a range of products from personal grooming products, to summer apparel, smartphones, among others.
Flipkart said that it is seeing an increase in searches for consumer electronic products, including personal grooming equipment (such as trimmers).
In the past fortnight, trimmers have been one of the top 10 most-searched products, with a 4.5X increase in searches since the beginning of April.
Snapdeal has said that 75% of the orders it has received have been for non-essential items in green and orange zones.
Some of the key non-essential products it shipped on Monday included personal grooming products and accessories, stationary products, steel utensils, apparel, footwear and electronics like power banks, phone and laptop chargers etc.
Snapdeal says that home products and summer apparel continue to be the most in-demand products.
Flipkart too, saw a similar demand where fans and air conditioners searches have more than doubled.
And as India stays at and works from home, headsets witnessed a 200% increase in searches.
"We are seeing an increase in searches for products in categories such as Laptops, Consumer Electronics (such as headphones), Mobiles, Air Conditioners, Coolers, t shirts, and other essentials,” Anil Goteti, Senior Vice President at Flipkart said.
Among others, consumers have been searching for shoes 1.8X times more than sarees, which can be attributed to people’s inclination towards leading a fitter and healthier lifestyle during this time.
However, mobiles have remained the most searched item.
On Snapdeal, the top sellers in the home category include kitchen appliances like mixers and grinders, pressure cookers, kitchen containers, water bottles, drinking glasses, kitchen tools like choppers etc.
Snapdeal has started deliveries of non-essential products in various cities including Gurugram, Panipat, Ambala, Panchkula & Amritsar in North India. In the western region, they have commenced in Goa, parts of Gujarat (Valsad, Jamnagar, Navsari) and select towns of Rajasthan including Udaipur & Bikaner.
Other cities where the platform have added delivery of non-essentials to existing operations include Visakhapatnam, Pondicherry, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Tuticorin.