Rs 24,000 cr festive online sales raise concerns over price gap with offline retailers

The Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations (CWBTA) on Monday raised concerns over the widening price gap between online and offline retail after e-commerce platforms reportedly recorded around Rs 24,000 crore in sales during the first two days of the festive season.

The trade body said deep discounts offered by online platforms were putting traditional retailers under pressure, as neighbourhood shops and physical stores struggled to match the prices available to consumers online.

CWBTA president Sushil Poddar said the concern was not the growth of e-commerce but the substantial price differences between online and offline sellers.

“Online sales of around Rs 24,000 crore in just two days clearly demonstrate the enormous scale of the shift in consumer purchasing. However, when such sales are driven by substantial price differences, the impact on offline traders cannot be ignored,” Poddar said.

He added that traditional retailers were losing business because they could not match the prices offered by large online platforms.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has also raised concerns over the issue, saying it does not oppose digital commerce but objects to pricing practices that make it difficult for traditional retailers to compete. It has called for rules to be applied fairly to online and offline sellers.

Poddar pointed out that physical retailers had to meet expenses such as shop rent, employee salaries, electricity bills, taxes, transportation, inventory and maintenance, while operating on relatively limited margins.

“Price competition is healthy, but when the price difference becomes too large, it creates an uneven playing field,” he said, arguing that identical products should not be available at dramatically different prices simply because they are purchased online rather than from a local shop.

The CWBTA urged the government and relevant authorities to examine the growing disparity and assess its long-term implications for traditional retail. It also called for greater price transparency and reasonable price parity for identical products and brands sold through online and offline channels.

The trade body said the festive season was particularly important for local retailers, who invest heavily in inventory in anticipation of higher demand. Significant online discounts, it warned, could reduce footfall in traditional markets, slow the movement of stocks and squeeze profit margins.

Poddar said the reported Rs 24,000 crore in sales over two days should serve as a signal for policymakers, warning that a sustained shift of this scale could affect the country's traditional retail ecosystem.

The CWBTA clarified that it was not seeking restrictions on e-commerce or consumer choice, but wanted both retail formats to grow alongside each other.

“Our objective is not to stop online commerce. Our objective is to protect fair competition,” Poddar said, calling price parity, transparency and a level playing field essential for the survival of small retailers and neighbourhood businesses.

He also appealed to consumers to support local shops and traditional markets during the festive season, describing them as an integral part of Bengal's economic and social fabric.