Bengaluru, Sep 8 (IANS): As India enters the festive season, online sales during the festive month are expected to reach $11.8 billion, a 28 per cent increase from last year, a report showed on Thursday.

The festive month is generally defined as a period starting from the first sales event and lasting roughly till Diwali week.

In the first festive week, the sales are estimated to reach $5.9 billion, projecting a 28 per cent increase from $4.8 billion last year, according to Redseer Strategy Consultants.

Compared to pre-pandemic sales in 2018, the report is projecting a 3 times growth in online festive sales gross merchandise value (GMV) this year.

"We are forecasting 4 times growth in the number of online shoppers from 2018. This growth has been driven by accelerated digital adoption and increasing penetration in Tier 2+ cities," said Sanjay Kothari, Associate Partner, Redseer.

Participation of online shoppers during the festive week has also doubled from 18 per cent in CY18 to a projected 38 per cent in CY22.

"This is majorly due to increasing awareness of the festive sales among the shoppers, growing reach, targeted selection, and expansion of products within the affordability range for shoppers across city types," Kothari added.

The massive growth in festive sales will further push the overall online retail GMV, which stood at $52 billion in 2021, to grow by 30 per cent to reach $68 billion in 2022, the report mentioned.

This year, the fashion category is expected to see robust growth driven by an increasing shopper base from Tier 2+ cities and first-time shoppers who generally tend to begin their online shopping journey with fashion.

The mobile and electronics category is expected to remain strong during the festive sales driven by better deals and new launches.