Bengaluru: Despite the pandemic and its impact on businesses, udaan, India’s largest business-to-business (b2b) eCommerce platform, enabled over 250 sellers under the Lifestyle category achieve sales worth INR 10 million on the platform in 2020. udaan’s Lifestyle business – comprising of Clothing, Accessories, and Footwear – shipped over 230 million products to 20% of the total Lifestyle retailers present in India while catering to more than 26 lakh orders in 2020. The sellers on the udaan platform were able to benefit from the ease-of-business and scale of eCommerce which resulted in the Lifestyle business achieving sales of 10 million comfort wear products and 10 million pairs of slippers across 900 cities during the year.
Key states such as Bihar, Jharkhand and the North East witnessed large transaction volumes in the Lifestyle category, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka and West Bengal. With Work-From-Home (WFM) becoming a norm due to the pandemic, the sale of daily wearables like T-shirts, jeans, kurtis, comfort wear and slippers witnessed a major spike making them the highest selling products on the platform. Around 9 million T-shirts, 4 million pairs of jeans, 3 million kurtis, 4 million shirts and over 3.5 million mats, socks and blouses were sold on the platform during 2020.
The lockdown also led to an increased demand for slippers and home comfort wear with 10 million pairs of slippers and an equal number of comfort wear products shipped across tier 1, 2 & 3 towns and cities. Of the total shipped volume, 70% of the slippers ordered were for men while 30% were for women. The Lifestyle category also added 1,00,000 new users on the platform during 2020.
The pandemic resulted in protective masks becoming the largest product category sold on the platform. Over 25 million masks were shipped to more than 20,000 retailers across India during the year. Over 3 million pieces of masks were shipped to Guwahati, Patna, and Kolkata each, while Visakhapatnam, Bangalore, Lucknow, and Chennai saw a cumulative sale of around 4.5 million masks.
Speaking on the performance of the Lifestyle business, Kumar Saurabh, Head-Lifestyle Business, udaan, said, “We are glad that, despite the global pandemic and its adverse impact, udaan kept the wheels of small businesses across Bharat moving by leveraging the power and scale of eCommerce. The volume growth achieved in the Lifestyle business was primarily driven by a vast range of quality products available at very affordable prices to our business partners, who in turn cater to the real Bharat. In addition, massive digital adoption triggered among retailers and manufacturers during the pandemic also resulted in the demand going up as the unlock happened. This clearly highlights the huge potential in the Lifestyle business, and we are uniquely positioned to leverage this opportunity by offering the benefits of eCommerce and internet-scale to our business partners. This is completely in line with our vision of transforming the trade ecosystem in the country leveraging technology.”
The pandemic has accelerated tech adoption among small and medium businesses, retailers, manufacturers, and brands. Even large manufacturers and brands such as Jockey, Arvind, Shoppers Stop, BIBA Rangriti, Lifestyle, Adidas, Reebok, Puma, Hummel, Relaxo and Aqualite have partnered udaan to leverage its strong distribution network and access newer markets while enjoying cost efficiencies.
udaan has operations across categories including lifestyle, electronics, home & kitchen, staples, fruits and vegetables, FMCG, pharma, toys and general merchandise. It enables shopkeepers, kirana, restaurants, street vendors, chemists, offices, small factories, contractors etc. to source from a large selection of high-quality products at the best prices with the convenience of eCommerce. The platform provides brands, and manufacturers access to new markets and regions with greater cost-efficiency and better price control. udaan connects millions of MSMEs throughout India and help them grow their business through the adoption of technology.
udaan is a one stop solution for all business requirements in the b2b space. It has built inclusive tech tools for Bharat, specially catering to the needs of brands, retailers & manufacturers providing them a level playing field to conduct and grow their business.
About udaan:
Founded in 2016 with a vision to transform the trade ecosystem and empower small businesses by leveraging technology, udaan is India’s largest b2b eCommerce platform. It has operations across categories including lifestyle, electronics, home & kitchen, staples, fruits & vegetables, FMCG, pharma, toys and general merchandise. udaan has over 3 million users, 1.7 million retailers and 30,000 sellers on the platform across the country. The platform enables supply chain & logistics operations, focused on b2b trade and built on strong technology, for daily delivery across 900+ cities and 12,000+ pin codes through udaanExpress. udaan enables financial products and services to small businesses, manufacturers, and retailers through udaanCapital to grow their business.
udaan is headquartered in Bangalore with offices in all leading metros and major cities across India.
