Consumers lap up festive offers on ecom platforms despite higher prices

Festive sales surge at Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho as shoppers embrace discounts, EMIs and online deals

Indian shoppers lapped up deals offered by ecommerce (ecom) giants Amazon and Flipkart, amid fears that consumers might stay away from shopping due to fewer discounts and price increases.

 

Shopping volumes at Amazon’s Great Indian Festival (AGIF) rose more than 50 per cent from a year earlier. Some 70 per cent of customer visits came from beyond the metros, said the company.

 

Spending through EMIs (equated monthly instalments) rose 40 per cent, Amazon said. The surge runs counter to a LocalCircles survey that projected urban festive budgets would fall about 6 per cent.

 

Rival Flipkart’s 13th edition of The Big Billion Days (TBBD) 2026 saw one in 15 of India’s online shoppers visiting the platform in the first hour. Orders, units, and buyers each grew by approximately 20-22 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y). Nearly half of the buyers were GenZ, about 60 per cent of them came from Tier-II+ cities. Additionally, the number of beauty, grooming, and general merchandise buyers rose 40 per cent, said the company.

  

“It’s a very broad-based demand that we are seeing,” said Aman Deep Lohan, Amazon India’s director for home, kitchen, and outdoors.

 

The AGIF, which opened to all customers at midnight on October 8, continues through Bhai Dooj on November 11. The event has attracted more than 3.93 billion shopper visits, setting new records across customer savings, sales, seller success, and delivery speed.

 

Lohan said brand partners across categories had planned their inventory and products well in advance for the AGIF. 

 

The growth comes despite phones and appliances getting costlier this year because of high memory-chip prices and a weaker rupee.

 

The LocalCircles survey, based on over 67,000 responses from urban consumers, also projected that 83 per cent of households planning festive purchases would use savings to fund at least part of them. Also the use of EMI schemes has helped this time.

 

“The instant bank discounts, no-cost EMIs, and other affordability levers are seeing a huge spike in adoption. What this means is that customers are opting for these affordability levers to shop for the products that they have been waiting for,” said Lohan.

 

Amazon said the AGIF has delivered the highest ever savings of over ₹2,800 crore.

 

Customers from nearly 4,500 pin codes shopped for two-wheelers, including premium models from Triumph and KTM. Fashion purchases by customers in Tier-II and Tier-III cities grew up to 23 per cent.

 

At Meesho, the festive season continues to highlight the growing depth of consumption across India, particularly in smaller cities and towns, the company said. Meesho this year recorded 33 per cent net merchandise value (NMV) growth over the comparable 90-day period preceding Dussehra last year.

 

“We are also seeing consumers expand their purchases beyond everyday essentials, with increasing demand for beauty, personal care, and other discretionary categories,” Meesho said in its shareholder letter. Meesho Mall’s NMV grew 89 per cent Y-o-Y in Tier-III+ cities during the second quarter of financial year 2026-27 (Q2FY27). “These trends reinforce the significant long-term opportunity for ecommerce as more consumers across Bharat come online and shop more frequently,” the company said.

 

For Amazon, its ultra-fast delivery service Amazon Now emerged as a powerful gateway for new customers during AGIF, driving 23 times more first-time shoppers to Amazon India Y-o-Y.

 

Daily orders on Amazon Now grew 18 times Y-o-Y. Customers also chose higher-value products, with the average value of each product ordered increasing 30 per cent Y-o-Y. Amazon Now is now present in more than 120 cities, with over 800 micro-fulfilment centres.