Online Festive Season Sales To Touch Rs 1.5 Lakh Crore On Increasing Customer Base

Chennai: India’s online festive season is forecast to grow to Rs 1,50,000 – Rs 1,55,000 crore this year – up by 25 to 29 per cent against Rs 1,20,000 crore in 2025. However, the Rs 30,000 crore of new sales expected to be added in about a month will be from a higher number of customers as the average order value is expected to shrink from last year.

Festive shoppers are set to increase from 138 million last year to 158 million this year, which itself can bring new sales of around Rs 17,400 crore. Orders per shopper may go up from 5.51 to 6.12, worth another Rs 15,114 crore. The season would see 966 million orders against 760 million last year - a rise of 27.1 per cent.

However, the average order is expected to fall from Rs 1,578 to Rs 1,554, and the incremental net addition to festive sales will be Rs 30,226 crore, shows the study by Datum Intelligence.

Among the categories, the share of mobile phones is set to decline while that of grocery is moving up. Mobile had a share of 38 per cent in the festive season of 2024 and it slid to 35.2 per cent in 2025. As per the projections, it is set to further fall to 29.8 per cent this year.

Mobile phones are the largest single thing most households buy online all year. But phones are getting dearer and scarcer as the average selling price is up 14 per cent to a record $315. India’s shipments are forecast to be down to 128 to 130 million this year against 152 million in 2025.

On the other hand, groceries had a 5 per cent share in 2024, which went up to 7 per cent in 2025 and is projected to further move up to 9.5 per cent this time. The growth can be attributed to quick commerce, the purchase order of which is about Rs 620. The channel is expected to take 16 per cent share of grocery against 12 per cent last year.

Most of the categories, including lifestyle, appliances, electronics and homeware may see their share moving a bit up or down this year.