Festive sale tracker 2026

The market

Season totals and early reads, as each report counts them.

1. 15 Oct · Fortune India

   CashKaro festive GMV hits ₹1,003.3 crore in six days, about 18 times a normal period

   GMV, 7-12 October

   ₹1,003.3 crore

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   For operators: CashKaro's 7-12 October festive sale drove 38 lakh orders at an average order value of ₹2,639, so retailers should put Tier 2 delivery capacity and offers first, where GMV grew 722% and Bhubaneswar grew 910%.

2. 15 Oct · BW Retail World

   D2C shipments jump 31.4% in first four festive days as marketplace GMV falls 10%

   2025 festive window3.12 million

   →

   2026 festive window4.10 million

   ▲up 31.4%

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   For operators: D2C shipments across 200 brands rose 31.4% to 4.10 million in the first four festive days while analysts put marketplace GMV down 10% at Rs 30,000 crore, so retail operators should expect festive demand and prepaid-led spend to move toward brand-owned channels.

3. 14 Oct · Fortune India

   Urban India's festive spending seen falling 6% to ₹1.97 lakh crore in 2026, LocalCircles survey finds

   Last year₹2.10 lakh crore

   →

   2026 estimate₹1.97 lakh crore

   ▼down 6%

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   For operators: Urban festive spend is seen falling 6% to ₹1.97 lakh crore, so store teams should weight festive inventory and promotions towards clothing, footwear and accessories (72% of planned purchases) and appliances and furniture (45%), and plan for fewer jewellery buyers (6%).

4. 14 Oct · NDTV Profit

   Haier India targets 35-40% festive sales growth, led by refrigerators, ACs and washing machines

   Expected festive sales growth, year on year

   35-40%

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   For operators: Haier India expects festive sales to rise 35-40% in refrigerators, ACs and washing machines, with demand in both rural and urban markets, so appliance retailers should stock those categories deeper and expect no price-war discounting from Haier.

5. 13 Oct · NDTV Profit

   CAIT sees Rs 7 lakh crore festive sales despite 23-month inflation high; Tier-II-plus cities drive 60%+ of e-commerce orders

   Festive sales last year (about)₹6.05 lakh crore

   →

   CAIT projected sales (exceed, Navratri-Diwali)₹7 lakh crore

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   For operators: With CAIT forecasting Rs 7 lakh crore of festive sales against Rs 6.05 lakh crore last year, retailers should put inventory, delivery capacity and staffing into Tier-II-plus cities, which drive over 60% of e-commerce orders, and into quick commerce at 10-15% share.

Platforms

What Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho and others say their sales did.

1. Myntra · 15 Oct · The Hindu BusinessLine

   Myntra eyes 100 million monthly active users this festive season as orders grow over 30%

   FY25 revenue from operations₹6,063.8 crore

   →

   FY26 revenue from operations₹5,242.5 crore

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   For operators: Myntra says orders are up over 30% this fiscal year and it expects 100 million monthly active users this festive season, so fashion e-commerce rivals face a bigger festive traffic and delivery contest, with M-Now already live in more than 12 cities.

2. Amazon · 15 Oct · Mint

   Flipkart and Amazon India expand festive hiring as staffing firms see 10-15% growth despite weak consumption

   2026 versus 2025

   Metric	2026	2025
   Flipkart festive job opportunities	more than 250,000	over 220,000
   Amazon India seasonal jobs (2025: Aug)	more than 160,000	over 150,000

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   For operators: Flipkart is offering more than 250,000 festive roles (over 220,000 in 2025) and Amazon India has created more than 160,000 (over 150,000 last year), so rival retailers need to lock in seasonal and gig labour early as staffing firms see 10-15% growth.

3. Myntra · 12 Oct · IMAGES Business of Fashion

   Myntra's Big Fashion Festival draws 4x normal demand in first 24 hours, led by Tier 2 and 3 cities

   Demand vs normal, first 24 hours

   4x

   Eastern India demand growth vs normal

   sevenfold

   New customer growth from eastern states

   1.8 times

   Peak concurrent sessions

   nearly 1 million

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   For operators: Myntra's festival drew 4x normal demand in 24 hours, with Tier 2 and 3 cities placing over half of orders, eastern India demand up sevenfold and M-Now orders doubled, so rival fashion retailers should check their regional stock, delivery speed and discount depth outside the metros.

4. Flipkart · 10 Oct · Business Standard

   Flipkart Fashion seller base jumps 77% after zero-commission move ahead of Big Billion Days

   Fashion seller base growth this year

   77%

   Transacting selection growth this year

   33%

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   For operators: With Flipkart's fashion commissions (previously averaging 14-18%) gone and the seller base up 77%, expect competition on Flipkart to shift from fees to visibility and price, so plan Big Billion Days promotion and Gen Z-focused assortments before Thursday.

5. Amazon · 10 Oct · BW Retail World

   Amazon's Great Indian Festival draws 440 million visits, with over 72% from beyond the top nine metros

   Visits to Amazon.in as of October 9

   over 440 million

   Visits from beyond the top nine metros

   over 72%

   Growth in first-time customers

   close to 100%

   Growth in sellers with ₹1 crore+ in 24 hours

   over 80%

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   For operators: With over 72% of the 440 million visits coming from beyond the top nine metros and first-time customers up close to 100%, plan festive assortment, pricing and delivery promises around smaller-city shoppers rather than metro buyers alone.

6. Meesho · 9 Oct · ET Retail

   Meesho's TrendPulse scans 400 million daily searches as e-commerce firms deploy AI to win Bharat's festive shoppers

   TrendPulse daily search queries analysed

   400 million

   Emerging shopping trends identified daily

   65

   Trend moments with regional or hyperlocal dimension

   97%

   Meesho orders from personalised feeds

   75%

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   For operators: Meesho's TrendPulse finds that 97% of trend moments carry a regional or hyperlocal dimension, so retailers should localise assortment and feeds by region ahead of a festive season in which Redseer expects 180-185 million online shoppers.

Quick commerce

Festive orders and spend on 10-minute delivery.

1. Quick commerce · 16 Oct · ET Retail

   Theater lifts festive marketing spend around 70% as brands shift to creators and quick commerce, with sales as the ROI test

   • Theater~around 70 per cent
   • FNP15-20 per cent

   0%20%40%60%80%

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   For operators: Theater raised festive marketing spend around 70% and says around 40% of festive sales came from creator-discovered consumers, so rival brands chasing festive shoppers now compete with a heavier creator budget.

2. Quick commerce · 14 Oct · Free Press Journal Business

   E-commerce orders rise 31% YoY in first week of Diwali sales; quick commerce up 85%, Unicommerce data shows

   • Quick commerce85%
   • All e-commerce (baseline)31%
   • Brand website27%
   • Online marketplace26%

   0%20%40%60%80%100%

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   For operators: E-commerce orders rose 31% in Diwali week, with quick commerce up 85% and Tier 3 towns at 42% of orders, so fulfilment capacity and delivery coverage in smaller towns must handle far more, smaller baskets (average order value down 10%).

3. Quick commerce · 12 Oct · ET BrandEquity

   Festive retail media spend to reach INR 11,500 crore in 2026, up 27%, as quick-commerce ads jump 50%

   • Festive commerce and retail media (₹11,500 crore)27 per cent
   • Quick-commerce festive ads (₹2,200 crore)50 per cent

   0%20%40%60%

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   For operators: With Datum Intelligence projecting festive commerce and retail media spend at INR 11,500 crore (+27%) and FNP lifting festive marketing investment by 15-20%, brands should lock in quick-commerce and retail media inventory early, because 65% of consumers expect to spend more this Diwali and competition for ad slots will be tight.

4. Quick commerce · 7 Oct · Deccan Herald Business

   Festive hiring to reach 2.5 to 2.7 lakh formal roles as e-commerce and quick commerce lean on Tier II, III cities

   Formal festive roles in 2025about 2.16 lakh

   →

   Expected formal festive roles this year2.5 to 2.7 lakh

   ▲up 15 per cent to 20 per cent

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   For operators: Plan seasonal staffing and last-mile capacity for Tier II and III cities now, since they drive nearly 45% of festive hiring demand (up 25-30%) and Flipkart's 2.5 lakh seasonal jobs and Ekart's 900 new delivery hubs will compete for the same labour before the 8 October sales.

5. Quick commerce · 6 Oct · Financial Express

   Festive hiring up 7% to 1.27 lakh postings as quick commerce leads at 18%, while September white-collar jobs fall 11%

   For operators: Festive hiring is clustering in quick commerce (+18%) and e-commerce (+12%) rather than stores (+4%) or FMCG (-4%), so put your seasonal readiness effort into q-commerce and marketplace availability, assortment and fulfilment, and into the tier-3 and emerging cities where postings rose 15%.

6. Amazon Now · 22 Sept · Forbes India

   Amazon Now targets 100 Indian cities by Diwali after topping $1bn annualised sales

   • Cities and towns served now60+ cities and towns
   • City target by Diwali100 cities

   050100150

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   For operators: Amazon Now’s push from 60-plus to 100 Indian cities by Diwali raises the bar for rapid-delivery operators, with local retail partners becoming critical omnichannel fulfilment nodes.

Categories

Which categories led, and which lagged.

1. Autos · 14 Oct · Business Today

   Smaller cities drive 58% of festive car searches on CarDekho, with Patna outranking Mumbai

   Tier-2 and smaller cities

   58%

   Tier-1 cities

   42%

   of Car searches on CarDekho, Aug-Sep 2026

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   For operators: Smaller cities made up 58% of CarDekho car searches in August-September 2026 against 42% for tier-1, so dealers and auto retailers should weight festive stock and showroom staffing toward tier-2 and smaller markets, with SUVs getting priority.

2. Electronics · 14 Oct · CNBC-TV18

   Vijay Sales expects 20-25% festive value growth as EMIs cushion electronics price hikes

   • Value growth (expected)20-25%
   • Unit sales growth (expected)5-8%

   0%10%20%30%

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   For operators: Vijay Sales expects festive value to grow 20-25% on unit growth of only 5-8%, so electronics retailers should plan inventory for modest volumes and lean on EMI offers, which finance 75-80% of purchases.

3. FMCG · 14 Oct · Moneycontrol

   Festive FMCG sales start slow as 5.54% September inflation squeezes household spending

   August retail inflation4.83%

   →

   September retail inflation5.54%

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   For operators: Retail inflation rose to 5.54% in September from 4.83% in August, with food inflation at 7.74%, and Hindustan Unilever and Dabur distributors report subdued festive demand in rural areas and smaller towns, so operators should expect softer footfall and basket sizes there and plan stock and promotions carefully.

4. Jewellery · 14 Oct · ET Small Business

   Tanishq CEO: over 50% of store transactions now involve gold exchange as festive demand outlook stays upbeat

   Over 50%Transactions involving gold exchange · of Tanishq store transactions

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   For operators: With over 50% of Tanishq store transactions involving gold exchange, jewellery retailers need exchange valuation, melt-and-refine handling and old-gold incentives ready before Dhanteras, since exchange is now the main route to a sale.

5. Travel · 13 Oct · Fortune India

   Agoda: Puri accommodation searches jump 318% and Sri Lanka 262% for festive stays

   • Puri318%
   • Sri Lanka262%
   • Ooty166%
   • Hong Kong138%
   • Japan125%
   • Munnar107%

   0%100%200%300%400%

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   For operators: Agoda's data shows searches for 15 October to 30 November 2026 stays up 318% year-on-year for Puri and 262% for Sri Lanka, so plan for some festive spend and footfall shifting from home-city stores to travel, so consider staffing and promotions around pre-trip shopping and the destinations that are growing.

6. Beauty · 12 Oct · ET Small Business

   Salons double festive makeover prices as Navratri demand surges and input costs climb 25-30%

   Input cost rise, year-on-year

   25-30%

   GST on salon services

   5%

   ▼down cut from 18%

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   For operators: With festive makeover prices roughly 2x last year and input costs up 25-30%, price premium tiers and festive bundles against the lost input tax credit, since the GST cut from 18% to 5% did not ease your costs.

Beyond the metros

What smaller towns added to the season, line for line as each report states it.

Their share of the season

• Tier-2 and smaller cities' share of car searches: 58% · Business Today, 14 Oct
• SUV share of luxury research in tier-2 and smaller cities: about 70% · Business Today, 14 Oct
• Quick commerce: Tier 3 share of total e-commerce orders: 42% · Free Press Journal Business, 14 Oct
• Festive e-commerce orders from Tier-II-plus cities: More than 60% · NDTV Profit, 13 Oct
• Amazon: Visits from beyond the top nine metros: over 72% · BW Retail World, 10 Oct
• Flipkart: Non-metro share of demand: 60 per cent · Deccan Herald Business, 9 Oct
• Amazon: Tier 2 and Tier 3 share of recent sale growth: 60-70% · Business Today, 7 Oct
• Amazon: Premium beauty growth from tier 2 and tier 3 cities: nearly 70% · Outlook Business, 7 Oct
• Amazon customers from tier 2 and tier 3 markets: almost 70% · Outlook Business, 7 Oct
• Amazon: New Prime customers from tier 2 and tier 3 cities: 70% · Outlook Business, 7 Oct
• Kapiva Tier-3 Flipkart sales share: around 66 per cent · ET Retail, 1 Oct

Growth there

• Tier 2 GMV growth vs BAU: 722% · Fortune India, 15 Oct
• Flipkart Tier-2 and Tier-3 growth: 60 per cent · ET Retail, 1 Oct

Day by day

Every report on this page, newest first.