Festive e-commerce boom puts fashion and quick commerce in the spotlight

The festive e-commerce market is headed for a record season, with gross merchandise value (GMV) expected to rise 25-29 per cent to Rs 1.50-1.55 lakh crore during the October-November shopping period, according to market research firm Datum Intelligence. The projected jump follows a rapid increase in online festive spending from Rs 81,000 crore in 2023 to Rs 96,000 crore in 2024 and Rs 1.20 lakh crore in 2025. But the changing composition of that spending is as significant as its scale.

Lifestyle and apparel are emerging as a biggest growth engine. The category is expected to account for 15.5 per cent of festive GMV, making it the second-largest digital consumption segment after mobile phones, which command 29.8 per cent. Lifestyle spending is ahead of consumer appliances at 13.6 per cent, electronics at 11.6 per cent, homeware at 11.4 per cent, grocery at 9.5 per cent and personal care at 3.7 per cent. For fashion companies, the implication is clear: festive demand is now moving beyond basic replacement purchases towards occasion wear, accessories and higher-value lifestyle consumption.

Small towns are the growth market

Much of the incremental demand is coming from outside India’s largest metros. Early festive shopping around Teej, Ekadashi and Raksha Bandhan has given an indication of the broader season. Meesho reported 73 per cent of its early festive orders came from non-metro markets, while seller participation increased 72 per cent from a year earlier. Demand has been particularly strong for semi-stitched ethnic sets, regional weaves and unbranded accessories.

Myntra, meanwhile, recorded nearly 60 per cent year-on-year growth during Raksha Bandhan shopping. The shift is not simply about consumers in smaller cities buying more products. It is also about what they are buying. Consumers in Tier-II, III markets are trading up to contemporary festive apparel, occasion footwear and accessories. That is encouraging brands and marketplaces to move inventory deeper into interior markets ahead of the major October sales events. This could make regional demand one of the defining variables of the festive season, particularly for brands seeking growth without relying entirely on metropolitan consumers.

Quick commerce enters fashion

The bigger structural change, however, may be the rise of quick commerce as a fashion and lifestyle channel. Datum Intelligence expects quick commerce to account for 16 per cent of festive digital spending, translating into about Rs 24,000 crore. That compares with Rs 14,080 crore in 2025 and Rs 7,920 crore in 2024. The category is moving well beyond groceries as dark-store networks add higher-margin lifestyle products. Occasion-specific stock keeping units (SKUs) are increasingly being positioned close to consumers to capture last-minute purchases.

Fast-fashion kurtas, dupattas, formal accessories, innerwear and demi-fine jewellery are among products that can benefit from delivery times of less than 15 minutes. The expansion of Flipkart Minutes and Amazon Now, alongside existing quick-commerce networks, could therefore create a new layer of competition for conventional fashion marketplaces. For consumers, the proposition is less about planned festive shopping and more about convenience—an accessory, gift or outfit needed immediately.

Brands face an inventory balancing act

The festive opportunity comes with a more complicated inventory cycle. The first week of major sales, led by Flipkart’s Big Billion Days and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival, is expected to contribute 46 per cent of festive volume, down from 48 per cent previously. Consumers are spreading purchases across a longer period before Diwali, which falls on 8 November.

Fashion brands must also contend with the annual Shradh period, when apparel purchases traditionally decline before demand rebounds during the main festive cycle. That creates a difficult working-capital equation. Companies need sufficient inventory to meet a sharp post-Shradh rise but cannot afford excessive stock that later has to be liquidated. Packaging costs, freight rates and broader supply-chain expenses add further pressure.

The challenge is particularly acute online, where apparel returns have historically exceeded 25 per cent. Aggressive discounting to clear excess inventory can quickly erode the margin gains generated during the festive period.

Gifting broadens the opportunity

Direct-to-consumer brands are consequently looking beyond apparel to capture the wider festive wallet. Demi-fine jewellery brand Palmonas expects monthly revenue growth of 60-65 per cent through quick-delivery channels by offering gift-oriented silver, 9-karat gold and platinum-plated products. Giva, Pilgrim and Open Secret are also using rapid-fulfilment platforms to capture impulse gifting demand.

Amazon India has pointed to a broader consumer trend: shoppers are combining traditional apparel purchases with beauty, accessories and other lifestyle products. This could raise average order values while giving smaller digital-first brands access to consumers during a period when gifting and self-consumption overlap.

Myntra’s fashion advantage

Myntra remains central to this shift as India’s leading dedicated fashion e-commerce platform, with a large portfolio spanning domestic and international labels, private brands and lifestyle categories. Its competitive advantage lies in combining assortment with regional reach and app-based trend discovery. The growth of ethnicwear, festive collections and beauty alongside everyday fashion gives the platform multiple opportunities to capture the consumer across the festive calendar.

For India’s online fashion industry, therefore, the Rs 1.55 lakh crore festive market is not merely a seasonal sales opportunity. It is becoming a test of how effectively brands can combine premiumization, regional demand, rapid fulfilment and inventory discipline.