Small Carts, Big Business: How India Shopped This Diwali

India's festive shopping season is increasingly being defined by purchases that do not necessarily make for large bills but add up to significant business for e-commerce platforms. Nearly 85% of online orders during the 2026 Diwali period were valued below ₹1,000, suggesting that affordable, everyday products are doing much of the heavy lifting in India's festive consumption story.

The finding comes from a new analysis by e-commerce technology company Unicommerce, which examined more than 138 million order items processed through its Uniware platform across the 2025 and 2026 festive seasons. Overall e-commerce order volumes grew 21% year-on-year (YoY), comparing October 6 to November 4, 2026, with September 17 to October 16, 2025.

The numbers offer a glimpse into an online consumption market where growth is no longer confined to big-ticket purchases or traditional marketplaces. Quick commerce is gaining ground, direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands are drawing more shoppers to their own websites, and smaller cities are accounting for a growing share of festive orders.

The economics of the small-ticket purchase

The dominance of orders below ₹1,000 is perhaps the most telling finding in Unicommerce's analysis. At 85% of total orders, this price segment underscores how much of online festive shopping is driven by relatively affordable purchases rather than expensive discretionary buys.

Fashion accessories, organic foods, personal care and everyday lifestyle products were among the key contributors to this segment, according to the company.

This has implications for how brands approach online retail. A large part of festive demand appears to be distributed across smaller purchases, where convenience, product discovery, discounts and repeat buying can matter as much as the size of an individual transaction. For sellers, the challenge is to make the economics work across a high volume of relatively low-value orders.

The finding also needs to be read in context. A high proportion of orders below ₹1,000 does not necessarily mean consumers are spending less overall. It indicates that the order mix is heavily skewed towards affordable purchases; it does not establish a decline in average consumer spending.

Quick commerce is moving beyond convenience

While marketplaces continue to account for the largest absolute share of online orders, the fastest growth came from quick commerce and D2C websites.

Quick commerce recorded a 75% increase in order volumes and a 38% rise in gross merchandise value (GMV), according to Unicommerce. D2C brand websites followed with 30% growth in order volumes and a 26% increase in GMV.

Traditional online marketplaces, meanwhile, recorded 8% growth in order volumes and 6% growth in GMV.

The divergence is significant. Marketplaces retain their scale advantage, but specialised channels are growing faster. Quick commerce, in particular, appears to be expanding its role beyond emergency purchases and last-minute grocery requirements. Its growing order volumes and GMV suggest that consumers are increasingly willing to use these platforms for a wider range of shopping needs.

For brands, the attraction is also different. Quick commerce offers speed and access to consumers at the moment of need, while D2C websites give companies a more direct relationship with their customers. The latter can also offer greater control over product presentation, customer data and the overall shopping experience.

However, faster growth does not automatically translate into stronger profitability. The numbers provided by Unicommerce capture order volumes and GMV, not the cost of acquiring customers, fulfilment expenses or contribution margins across these channels.

Smaller cities take a bigger share of festive orders

The geography of online shopping is changing alongside its economics.

Tier-3 cities accounted for 41% of festive order volumes, the largest share among the three city classifications in Unicommerce's analysis. Their order volumes grew 26% YoY. Tier-2 cities contributed another 24%, registering 23% growth.

Tier-1 cities and major metropolitan markets accounted for 34% of volumes, with growth of 13%.

The numbers suggest that the next leg of e-commerce growth is increasingly coming from beyond India's largest urban centres. While metros remain important consumption markets, smaller cities are contributing a larger proportion of online transactions.

For e-commerce companies and brands, this also changes the nature of the expansion challenge. Reaching consumers in smaller markets involves building distribution networks, managing delivery timelines and ensuring that products are available across a wider geographical spread.

The growth in Tier-3 markets is particularly noteworthy because these cities are not merely adding incremental demand. They account for the single largest share of festive orders in the dataset.

Prepaid payments gain ground

Another notable finding is the growing preference for digital payments. Prepaid transactions accounted for 61% of festive orders, according to Unicommerce.

The trend was particularly pronounced in Tier-3 cities, where prepaid transaction volumes increased by more than 40% YoY. The company identified Kolar, Kamrup, Gandhinagar and Rohtak among the emerging markets witnessing this shift.

The growing share of prepaid orders is an important development for online retailers. Cash on delivery has traditionally been a significant part of e-commerce transactions in India, particularly outside major cities. A greater willingness to pay upfront can help reduce the operational complications associated with cash handling, failed deliveries and returns arising from rejected orders.

Unicommerce attributes part of the shift to platform incentives and rewards offered for digital payments. This is an important distinction: the growth in prepaid transactions indicates greater adoption of digital checkout options, but does not, by itself, establish a broader shift in consumer trust.

Taken together, the findings point to a festive e-commerce market that is becoming more distributed. The growth is coming from smaller purchases, consumers outside major metropolitan markets and channels that are challenging the traditional dominance of online marketplaces.

For the industry, the question is no longer just how many consumers shop online during the festive season. It is how effectively platforms and brands can serve a growing base of shoppers making frequent, affordable purchases across an expanding network of markets.