5.2 Trends in the Share of Each Product Category in Total Sales

FIGURE 5.2 Trends in the Share of Each Product Category in Total Sales

Sources: Administrative data on transactions and business and entrepreneur characteristics associated with a partner firm website; data at CPhS (Consumer Pyramids household Survey) (dashboard), Consumer Pyramidsdx, Centre for monitoring indian Economy, mumbai, https://consumerpyramidsdx.cmie.com/. Note: The figure shows the share of each product category in total sales based on administrative data.

computer tablets, and laptop accessories alone account for about 10 percent of sales on the platform.

Finally, the study examines the geographical location of transactions. Figure 5.3 shows the distribution of sales and purchases by state. One interesting pattern that emerges is that customers are much more geographically dispersed than sellers. The vast majority of merchants is located in the metropolitan areas of Delhi and Mumbai and, to a lesser extent, in the state of Gujarat. Between 40 percent and 50 percent of total sales are made by businesses located in greater Delhi. The customers on the other end of these transactions are, however, much more geographically dispersed (figure 5.3, panel b). The states with the highest share of online purchases are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh (mostly postal codes outside of greater Delhi), and none of these locations has a share of more than 15 percent of total purchases. Postal codes outside the states with the 10 highest shares of purchases account for about 30 percent of total purchases.