Why festive sales are losing their sparkle this year

E-commerce majors Flipkart and Amazon have yet to release their customary headline growth figures after the peak festive shopping period, raising questions about the strength of this year’s sales.

India’s festive e-commerce season has begun on a subdued note. Higher smartphone prices, the absence of last year’s GST-cut boost and more cautious consumer spending have weighed on the country’s traditional peak shopping period. Quick commerce and non-electronics categories are gaining traction, but industry executives say the shift may not fully offset weaker demand for high-value products.

Satish Meena of Datum Intelligence said smartphone sales were already 15–20% lower before the festive season than a year earlier. Mobile phones accounted for around 35% of festive sales last year, but their share has fallen below 30% this year.

“Last year, mobile phones accounted for around 35% of total festive sales, whereas this year, the share did not even cross 30%,” he said.

Meena attributed the decline to higher memory prices and expensive new launches. Unlike in previous years, older iPhone models have not become significantly cheaper after new launches, giving consumers less incentive to upgrade.

The absence of a GST-led demand boost has compounded the slowdown. Tax cuts announced just before last year’s festive season particularly benefited appliances and other big-ticket purchases.

The impact was evident in the opening days of the sales period. “That is why, in the first four to five days, there was a slowdown of almost 7–10% compared with last year,” Meena said.

Meena nevertheless expects purchases to be spread more evenly across the festive month, with demand potentially peaking around Dhanteras and Diwali. Quick commerce is also emerging as a significant channel: the number of dark stores is reportedly up nearly 50%, while the customer base has expanded by around 40%.

That shift is benefiting everyday categories such as fashion, groceries, food, home décor and beauty. However, their lower transaction values make them poor substitutes for smartphones and other expensive electronics.

For appliance makers, the trend also reflects changing consumer behaviour. Tanuj Gupta, director of sales at Thermocool Home Appliances Ltd, said e-commerce contributes around 10–15% of the company’s sales, making online trends only one part of the broader picture.

“Customers today have become more selective and price-conscious compared with earlier years,” Gupta said. Features, energy efficiency, durability, pricing and after-sales service increasingly shape purchase decisions, he added.

Promotional spikes can also be followed by softer demand as consumers return to more considered buying.

Wonderchef, however, has reported stronger demand. Founder and CEO Ravi Saxena said the company recorded “strong overall demand and continued double-digit growth for the event window compared to last year”.

The company’s traditional marketplace business also performed well, while quick-commerce demand grew substantially, aided by expansion into Tier 2 markets. Saxena said lower-priced offerings on marketplaces had slowed even as consumers showed a clear preference for premium products.

The mixed signals suggest that festive spending is not disappearing, but shifting across categories and channels. Whether that diversification can offset weaker big-ticket purchases will determine how closely this year’s overall sales match last year’s levels.