India’s quick commerce companies captured a larger share of festive-season spending in 2026, even as overall online shopping growth slowed. According to Datum Intelligence data reported by The Financial Express, quick commerce gross merchandise value (GMV) increased 60% to ₹22,528 crore during the festive season, compared with ₹14,080 crore last year. Its share of total online festive sales also increased to approximately 16%, up from 12% in 2025.
The growth came as consumers increasingly purchased groceries, home decorations, festive gifts and everyday essentials through platforms offering rapid deliveries. However, the broader online festive market grew just 17% to ₹1.408 lakh crore, compared with 25% growth last year. Declining smartphone sales, smaller shopping baskets and cautious consumer spending contributed to the slowdown, highlighting a shift in India’s festive shopping behaviour.
Quick Commerce Sales Grow 60% to ₹22,528 Crore
Quick commerce emerged as one of the fastest-growing channels during India’s 2026 festive shopping season.
According to Datum Intelligence, the segment recorded GMV of ₹22,528 crore, representing approximately 60% growth compared with ₹14,080 crore in the previous festive season.
Its contribution to overall online festive sales increased from 12% in 2025 to approximately 16% in 2026.
The rest of online retail, including traditional e-commerce marketplaces and brand-owned websites, recorded only around 12% GMV growth.
The difference highlights how consumer preferences are changing.
Instead of relying entirely on large online marketplaces for festive shopping, consumers increasingly used quick commerce applications to purchase products they needed immediately.
Groceries, household essentials, festive decorations and gifting products benefited from this shift.
The convenience of receiving products within minutes or hours became an important factor in purchasing decisions, particularly during the final days before Diwali.
India’s Festive Online Sales: Quick Commerce Growth
| Metric | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Quick commerce GMV | ₹14,080 Cr | ₹22,528 Cr |
| Quick commerce share | 12% | 16% |
| Quick commerce GMV growth | — | 60% |
| Overall online festive sales | ₹1.20 Lakh Cr | ₹1.408 Lakh Cr |
| Overall online sales growth | 25% | 17% |
Source: Datum Intelligence data reported by The Financial Express.
Why Quick Commerce Benefited From Festive Shopping
The growth of quick commerce was supported by a shift in the categories consumers purchased online.
Traditionally, large e-commerce marketplaces benefited from festive demand for smartphones, laptops, electronics and other expensive products.
However, consumers increasingly used quick commerce platforms for smaller purchases that required immediate delivery.
These included:
- Home decorations and decorative lights.
- Diyas and festive essentials.
- Gold and silver coins.
- Steel utensils and household products.
- Gift hampers and envelopes.
- Groceries and packaged food.
- Festive clothing and footwear.
Grocery was the fastest-growing online category during the season, recording approximately 40% year-on-year growth.
Industry estimates also indicated that more than 75% of grocery and festive gifting sales moved through quick commerce platforms.
This development suggests that quick commerce is increasingly becoming a regular shopping channel rather than a platform used only for emergency purchases.
Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart See Festive Demand
Major quick commerce companies benefited from the increase in festive shopping activity.
Platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart expanded their product offerings to accommodate seasonal demand.
Several companies also reported significant increases in orders for specific festive categories.
Swiggy Instamart: Party-related orders during the week before Diwali increased 162% compared with the previous year, according to the company.
Zepto: The platform received approximately 468,000 orders for diyas during the week before Diwali. It also delivered more than 14,000 gold and silver coins during its busiest hour on Dhanteras.
Flipkart Minutes: The platform sold four times as many gift envelopes during Diwali as it did in the previous year.
Amazon Now: Its daily orders increased 18 times year over year, while the number of first-time shoppers increased 23 times.
These figures illustrate how quick commerce platforms are expanding beyond groceries and food delivery into seasonal retail categories.
However, Blinkit, India’s market-leading quick commerce platform, did not disclose its festive sales figures.
Quick Commerce Order Volumes Increase 75%
Another important indicator of the segment’s growth was the increase in order volumes.
According to Unicommerce, quick commerce order volumes increased 75% year over year during the festive season.
This was significantly higher than the growth recorded by other online retail channels.
| Online Shopping Channel | Order Volume Growth |
|---|---|
| Quick commerce | 75% |
| Brand websites | 30% |
| Traditional e-commerce marketplaces | 8% |
The faster growth in order volumes compared with GMV suggests that consumers placed more orders but spent less per transaction.
This indicates a shift towards smaller and more frequent purchases.
For consumers, this offers greater convenience and flexibility. For quick commerce companies, however, smaller orders can create operational challenges.
Each delivery involves expenses related to picking, packaging, staffing and logistics, regardless of the total order value.
Consequently, platforms must increase order density and improve fulfilment efficiency to maintain healthy unit economics.
Quick Commerce Dark Stores Increase 34% to 7,153
The expansion of quick commerce infrastructure also supported the segment’s festive growth.
According to industry estimates, platforms entered the 2026 festive season with 7,153 dark stores, representing a 34% increase compared with the previous year.
Dark stores are small fulfilment centres that operate without traditional customer-facing retail spaces.
They stock frequently purchased products and allow platforms to fulfil orders within a limited delivery radius.
The expansion of this network helped companies improve product availability and reach more customers.
Amazon Now expanded its presence to more than 120 cities, compared with over 60 cities in mid-September.
Flipkart Minutes also expanded its operations to more than 130 cities.
The market now includes seven major players:
- Blinkit
- Zepto
- Swiggy Instamart
- BigBasket
- Amazon Now
- Flipkart Minutes
- JioMart
The growing number of platforms is increasing competition around delivery speed, product assortment, pricing and customer acquisition.
For companies, expanding dark stores is becoming an important part of gaining market share beyond major metropolitan areas.
Online Festive Sales Growth Slows to 17%
Despite the strong performance of quick commerce, India’s overall online festive shopping market recorded slower growth in 2026.
Online festive sales, including quick commerce, reached approximately ₹1.408 lakh crore during 34 sale days between October 7 and November 9.
This represented 17% growth compared with approximately ₹1.20 lakh crore in 2025.
The growth rate was significantly lower than the 25% recorded in the previous year.
It also missed the pre-season forecast of 25% to 29% growth.
The slowdown indicates that stronger performance in smaller shopping categories was not enough to offset weaker demand for expensive products.
Traditional e-commerce marketplaces, which depend heavily on electronics and smartphones during festive sales, were particularly affected.
Smartphone Sales Decline 15% as Consumers Become Cautious
Smartphones were the biggest drag on India’s online festive sales during 2026.
According to Datum Intelligence, smartphones accounted for approximately 25% of festive online sales, down from 35.2% in 2025.
Their share was also below the approximately 30% anticipated before the festive season.
Smartphone sales declined around 15% in value terms.
One of the factors was an increase in average smartphone prices, which rose approximately 16% to 19% because of higher memory costs.
The number of smartphone units sold also declined by approximately 25% to 33% during the opening days of festive sales.
Higher prices may have encouraged consumers to delay purchases, choose less expensive models or reduce discretionary spending.
Lifestyle products, including fashion and footwear, maintained a relatively stable share of approximately 15% to 16% of online festive sales.
Interestingly, sales outside the smartphone category increased approximately 35%.
However, that growth was insufficient to prevent a slowdown in the overall market.
Why Quick Commerce Is Becoming an Important Retail Channel
The growing popularity of quick commerce reflects a wider change in India’s retail ecosystem.
Consumers are increasingly comfortable purchasing everyday products through mobile applications rather than visiting physical stores or waiting several days for traditional e-commerce deliveries.
The quick commerce model offers three important advantages.
Faster delivery: Consumers can purchase products when they need them rather than planning purchases several days in advance.
Convenient product discovery: Platforms use personalised recommendations, seasonal collections and promotional campaigns to encourage purchases.
Localised inventory: Dark stores allow companies to stock products according to demand in specific neighbourhoods.
The third factor is particularly important during India’s festive season.
Different regions celebrate different festivals and follow different shopping patterns. A localised inventory model allows platforms to offer products relevant to customers in individual cities and neighbourhoods.
This approach can help companies capture demand from smaller regional occasions in addition to major festivals such as Diwali.
The Bigger Picture
The 2026 festive season highlights a significant change in India’s online retail market.
Quick commerce is moving beyond its original focus on groceries and daily essentials to become a broader shopping channel for gifting, home products, festive decorations and lifestyle categories.
Its 60% GMV growth demonstrates how rapidly consumer spending is shifting towards convenience-led retail platforms.
However, the slowdown in overall online festive sales also reveals that the Indian consumer market is not experiencing uniform growth across categories. While smaller purchases benefited from quick commerce, higher smartphone prices and weaker big-ticket demand affected traditional marketplaces.
For quick commerce companies, the next challenge will be converting rising order volumes into sustainable profitability. Smaller average orders, delivery costs and intense competition could put pressure on margins even as the market expands.
Looking Ahead
Quick commerce platforms are likely to continue investing in dark stores, regional inventory and faster fulfilment as they compete for a larger share of India’s retail spending. Companies such as Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Amazon Now and Flipkart Minutes will increasingly compete across categories beyond groceries. Their ability to improve order values, customer retention and delivery efficiency will be important for sustaining growth.
For traditional e-commerce marketplaces, the changing shopping pattern creates pressure to strengthen faster delivery services and improve customer convenience. The 2026 festive season demonstrates that India’s online retail growth is increasingly being distributed across multiple channels, with quick commerce becoming an important part of the country’s evolving digital shopping ecosystem.
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