Festive Barometer / Methodology

Methodology

How Festive Barometer measures festive spending, provides tailored recommendations, and delivers consumer behavior insights.

Definitions

Key Definitions

Standard definitions used across the Festive Barometer research.

Retail Sales
Selling consumer goods, excluding travel, cars, prescription drugs, restaurant sales, and gasoline sales.
Online Retail Sales
Purchasing goods and services through the Internet via credit cards or digital payment methods. Includes mobile devices, web-enabled kiosks, POS systems, and in-store pickup where purchase is completed online.
Online Buyers
People who have completed at least one online purchase within the past 12 months.
Online Sales Via Mobile
Purchases made through smartphones and tablets via mobile applications or mobile-optimized websites.
Scope

Categories Covered

The Festive Barometer tracks 9 product categories across India's online retail landscape.

Category Definitions
Mobile Smartphones and feature phones
Consumer Electronics Desktop computers, laptops/tablets, computer accessories, DVD/Blu-Ray players, power banks, storage devices, recorders, hair dryers, electric shavers, electronic toothbrushes, radios, headphones, CD players, MP3 players, game consoles, car audio systems, speakers, eReaders, cameras/camcorders, smart speakers, personal healthcare
Personal Care & Cosmetics Toiletries (shaving cream, razors, oral care, bath and shower gel, deodorants, baby and childcare products, depilatories, sanitary products), haircare (shampoo, colorants, mousses), fragrances (perfumes, aftershave, scented oils), color cosmetics (lip and eyeliners, powders, foundations, nail polish, mascaras, lipstick)
Lifestyle Clothing (baby, kids, men's, women's clothing and outerwear), footwear, luggage, jewellery and accessories (handbags, scarves, belts, wallets, sunglasses, gloves, hats, watches, rings, wristwear, neckwear, tiepins)
Homeware & Furniture Furniture (chairs, sofas, mattresses, beds, tables), textiles (curtains, carpets, cushions), home décor, home improvement tools, glassware, plasticware, non-electric cookware, ceramics, porcelain, cutlery and kitchen utensils, woodware, metalware, garden supplies, art and collectibles
Grocery Fruits and vegetables, food grains (rice, wheat), oil, spices and masalas, bakery, dairy, non-alcoholic beverages, condiments, baby food, biscuits, snacks, jam, butter, spreads, chocolates, confectionaries, poultry, soups and instant food, pasta and noodles, dried fruits, nuts and seeds. Includes quick commerce.
Appliances Refrigerator, air conditioner, washing machine, television, microwave, toaster, electric cooker, coffee maker, blender, iron, humidifiers, air purifiers, water purifiers, vacuum cleaners, fans/air coolers, geysers, electric cookware, electric bakeware
Books & General Merchandise Baby and child care, sporting goods and fitness equipment, books (hardback, softback, audiobooks, ebooks, magazines), auto parts and accessories, office products, flowers, musical instruments, non-prescription drugs, nutraceuticals and dietary supplements, traditional toys, pet food and supplies
Baby Products Overlay category that includes baby gear, bath, food, clothing, shoes, health, nutraceuticals, accessories, toys etc.
Process

Our Methodology

A four-step approach combining secondary research, primary data collection, statistical modelling, and expert validation.

eCommerce Market Share

1

Secondary Research & Existing Data

Existing Datum market data, public filings, industry reports, media reports, trade associations and government and public institutions, and data collected from secondary research.

2

Custom Survey & Scraping

Consumer survey to gather data on consumer behaviors, primary interviews of ecosystem players, and data scraping for quick commerce.

3

Modelling & Forecasting

Build standardized bottom-up or top-down models that leverage data and market dynamics. Forecasting methods include exponential trend smoothing, S-Curve, and Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA).

4

Model Validation

Validation with market experts, ecosystem players and comparable key market indicators.

Primary Research

Survey Methodology

How survey data feeds into market share estimation through a multi-layered validation process.

Research Design

Objective

To understand the shopping behaviour of Indian consumers in the upcoming festive season

Festive Season

Starting from the first day of Big Billion Days / Great Indian Festival to Diwali

Sample

Online survey of 5,000 online adults across 50 cities in India during the festive month

Respondent Profile

By Age
18-24: 30%
25-34: 30%
35-44: 30%
45+: 10%
By City Tiers
Metro: 30%
Tier 1: 30%
Tier 2 & 3: 40%
By Gender
Male: 50% | Female: 50%

Questions about our methodology?

We are transparent about our research process and happy to discuss our approach in detail.

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