Bengaluru: Quick commerce is expected to outpace traditional e-commerce this festive season, as consumers increasingly turn to instant-delivery platforms for gifting, home décor and other convenience-led purchases, analysts said.
This shift is being driven by evolving consumer behaviour, as customers increasingly opt for last-minute purchases or spur-of-the-moment celebrations, relying on quick commerce to fulfil orders instantly.
“We expect quick-commerce growth to be higher than e-commerce growth this festive season. This will also be a key year for quick commerce as the lines between e-commerce and quick commerce increasingly blur,” said Satish Meena, analyst at market research firm Datum Intelligence.
The shift builds on momentum seen during last year’s festive season. According to Datum Intelligence’s 2025 Festive Barometer, overall festive sales grew 31% to cross ₹1.24 trillion. Grocery (which includes quick commerce in Datum’s classification) was the fastest-growing category, surging 45% year-on-year. Homeware and furniture grew 27%, pointing to strong demand in categories that are increasingly suited to rapid delivery.
The festival season in India typically starts in August with the Independence Day and runs until the new year's eve.
India’s quick-commerce gross merchandise value (GMV), spanning categories including grocery, electronics, and apparel, is projected to rise from $11.3 billion in fiscal year 2026 (FY26) to about $60 billion by FY31, according to Anand Rathi Research. GMV, a key digital commerce metric, is the total value of all goods sold on a platform before accounting for discounts or returns.
The festival months will also serve as a test for platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart, for whom micro-festivals have emerged as key periods for sales spikes and bigger baskets, according to Meena. For context, Blinkit’s net order value (NOV) grew 121% year on year to ₹13,300 crore in the June quarter of FY25.
“With larger marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart racing to win the quick-commerce race, this year will be particularly interesting,” Meena said.
Quick commerce is gaining traction among gifting and home décor brands this festive season, as companies look to tap the channel’s growing reach and faster fulfilment.
Stellaris Venture Partners-backed home decor brand Nestasia expects the channel to account for 15% of its sales this festive season, up from 10% last year, with gifting and impulse purchases seeing a spike. Its average order value on the channel is around ₹600-700, its co-founder Aditi Agrawal told Mint.
Gifting brand FNP’s chief marketing officer Avi Kumar said the company expects strong double-digit festive growth, driven by higher gifting intent, premiumization and faster fulfilment. Quick commerce is emerging as an important channel for festive gifting, particularly for flowers, cakes, chocolates and compact festive hampers, Kumar added.
The nature of these purchases also plays to the strengths of the channel. Consumers are increasingly willing to buy closer to an occasion, whether it is a last-minute gift, an unexpected festive visit or an impromptu celebration. FNP said such orders typically have shorter consideration cycles and smaller baskets, while larger and more personalized gifting continues to be planned in advance.
For Nestasia, however, the rise of quick commerce does not mean traditional e-commerce is losing demand. Its founder said the two channels are serving different points in the consumer journey, with traditional e-commerce seeing demand slightly earlier and quick commerce typically seeing a spike two to three days before an occasion.
“Traditional e-commerce versus quick commerce, the demand has not gotten replaced. It’s essentially, both platforms have their own demand at two different times,” Agrawal noted.
Rather than simply shifting sales from e-commerce to quick commerce, brands believe rapid delivery is bringing more consumers and more purchase occasions online.