Quick commerce platforms captured a larger share of India’s online festive shopping in 2026, even as overall festive sales growth slowed. Platforms offering rapid deliveries benefited from changing consumer preferences, with shoppers increasingly purchasing groceries, home décor, personal care products and festive gifts through services that promise delivery within minutes.
According to research by Datum Intelligence, quick commerce gross merchandise value (GMV) increased approximately 60% year over year to ₹22,528 crore during the festive season, compared with ₹14,080 crore in 2025. Its share of online festive sales increased to around 16% from 12% a year earlier. However, the broader online festive market grew just 17% to ₹1.41 lakh crore, marking its slowest growth since 2023.
Quick Commerce Outpaces the Wider Online Retail Market
The latest festive season highlighted the growing difference between quick commerce and traditional e-commerce marketplaces.
Quick commerce GMV increased approximately 60% to ₹22,528 crore, while the remaining online retail market, including large e-commerce marketplaces and brand-owned websites, recorded growth of around 12%.
The channel’s share of festive online sales consequently increased by four percentage points in one year.
| Metric | 2026 festive season | 2025 festive season |
|---|---|---|
| Quick commerce GMV | ₹22,528 crore | ₹14,080 crore |
| Quick commerce share | 16% | 12% |
| Quick commerce GMV growth | 60% | — |
| Overall online festive sales | ₹1,40,800 crore | ₹1,20,000 crore |
| Overall online sales growth | 17% | 25% |
The figures suggest that quick commerce is becoming an increasingly important part of India’s online shopping ecosystem.
Its growth was supported by a wider product selection, increasing delivery coverage and consumers’ willingness to use instant-delivery applications for purchases beyond everyday groceries.
However, the expansion also reflects a change in the type of products consumers purchased during the festive season.
Groceries and Festive Gifting Drive Demand
Groceries emerged as one of the strongest-performing online categories during the 2026 festive season.
According to Datum Intelligence, online grocery sales increased approximately 40% compared with the previous year. More than 75% of grocery and festive gifting sales reportedly moved to quick commerce platforms, based on industry estimates cited in the report.
Consumers increasingly used instant-delivery services for products required during Diwali celebrations, including decorative lights, diyas, sweets, snacks, household essentials and gift hampers.
The convenience of ordering products shortly before an event helped quick commerce platforms capture purchases that might previously have gone to neighbourhood stores or traditional online marketplaces.
Festive shopping also extended into categories such as beauty, personal care, clothing and footwear.
The change indicates that quick commerce platforms are gradually moving beyond their original grocery-focused business models. They are attempting to become broader retail destinations for customers who prioritise convenience and immediate availability.
Amazon, Flipkart and Other Platforms Expand Instant Delivery
Competition in India’s quick commerce market intensified during the festive season, with established e-commerce companies expanding their rapid-delivery operations.
Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket and JioMart were among the major players competing for customer orders.
Amazon Now recorded daily orders approximately 18 times higher than the previous year’s festive period, while its first-time shoppers increased 23 times, according to figures reported by The Financial Express.
Flipkart Minutes also experienced stronger demand. Orders on the opening day of the company’s Big Billion Days sale were approximately 3.5 times its normal daily volume.
Myntra’s M-Now service recorded more than 2.6 times the orders during its Big Fashion Festival compared with the previous edition.
These developments demonstrate how companies traditionally associated with conventional e-commerce are investing in faster fulfilment to compete with specialised quick commerce platforms.
The expansion is also visible in the physical infrastructure supporting the industry. Quick commerce platforms entered the festive season with approximately 7,153 dark stores, representing a 34% increase from the previous year, according to industry estimates.
Amazon Now expanded its presence to more than 120 cities, while Flipkart Minutes operated in over 130 cities.
Order Volumes Rise Faster Than Sales Value
Quick commerce platforms recorded particularly strong growth in the number of orders placed during the festive period.
Data from commerce technology company Unicommerce showed that quick commerce order volumes increased approximately 75% year over year.
For comparison, orders through brand-owned websites grew around 30%, while horizontal e-commerce marketplaces recorded growth of approximately 8%.
However, order growth exceeded GMV growth on quick commerce platforms.
This suggests that consumers placed more orders but often purchased fewer or lower-priced products in individual transactions.
The difference matters because quick commerce companies face substantial fulfilment expenses. Delivering a small grocery or household order can involve many of the same operational costs as delivering a significantly larger basket.
As a result, higher order volumes do not automatically translate into stronger profitability.
Companies must balance delivery speed, discounts, dark-store expenses, inventory management and customer acquisition costs to build sustainable business models.
Smaller Shopping Baskets Reflect Changing Consumer Spending
The expansion of quick commerce came against a broader slowdown in festive online spending.
India’s online festive sales reached approximately ₹1,40,800 crore during 34 sale days from October 7 to November 9, 2026. This represented 17% growth compared with the previous year, significantly below the 25% growth recorded in 2025.
The season also fell short of the earlier industry expectation of ₹1.5 lakh crore to ₹1.55 lakh crore.
Smartphones were a major reason for the slowdown.
The category accounted for approximately 25% of online festive sales, compared with 35.2% in 2025. Smartphone sales value declined around 15%, as higher average selling prices and weaker unit demand affected purchases.
Average smartphone prices increased approximately 16-19%, partly reflecting higher memory component costs. Online smartphone sales volumes also declined by an estimated 25-33%.
Meanwhile, spending shifted towards lower-priced categories such as groceries, home décor, fashion, footwear, beauty and personal care.
Quick commerce benefited from this shift because many of these products are suitable for smaller, frequent purchases rather than large planned shopping baskets.
The Economics of Quick Commerce Remain a Challenge
Despite strong festive growth, quick commerce companies still face questions about profitability.
The expansion of dark stores, delivery networks and product categories requires significant investment. Platforms must also maintain sufficient inventory close to customers while managing wastage, discounts and delivery expenses.
Smaller average orders can make these challenges more difficult because fulfilment costs do not necessarily decline in proportion to the value of a customer’s purchase.
The sector’s next challenge will therefore be converting festive demand into repeat purchases while improving unit economics.
Expanding into higher-value categories such as electronics, fashion, beauty and gifting could help increase average order values. However, these categories also require different inventory strategies and operational capabilities.
Companies will need to determine which products customers genuinely want delivered immediately and which are better suited to conventional e-commerce delivery.
The Bigger Picture
The 2026 festive season shows that India’s online retail market is changing, even as overall consumer spending growth becomes more moderate.
Quick commerce is gaining ground by addressing shopping occasions that traditional marketplaces are not always designed to serve. Last-minute purchases, forgotten household essentials and immediate gifting requirements have created opportunities for instant-delivery platforms.
At the same time, the slowdown in smartphones and other big-ticket categories demonstrates that convenience alone cannot fully offset weaker spending on expensive products.
For the wider retail industry, the shift means competition is no longer limited to product prices and discounts. Delivery speed, product availability, geographical coverage and shopping convenience are becoming increasingly important factors in customer acquisition.
Looking Ahead
Quick commerce platforms are likely to continue expanding their product ranges and geographical coverage as they compete for a larger share of India’s retail spending. The performance of categories such as groceries, beauty, fashion and festive gifting will help determine whether the growth recorded during Diwali can continue throughout the year.
However, sustaining that expansion will require more than increasing order volumes. Platforms must improve average order values, control fulfilment costs and build repeat purchasing habits. The next phase of competition will depend on whether companies can turn rapid festive growth into a profitable and sustainable retail business.
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