Qcom, ecom platforms see surge in premium, personalised rakhi demand

On Flipkart Minutes, festive shopping grew threefold year-on-year (YoY), with Gen Z accounting for more than 40 per cent of shoppers. Rakhi and fashion maang tikkas emerged as the fastest-growing categories, recording 20 times and four times growth, respectively. Precious earrings, gold and silver coins and bars, and pooja thali sets also saw strong demand.

The qcom platform sold more than 2,000 rakhis per minute, while mobile handsets, true wireless earbuds, gold coins and bars, and smartwatches emerged among the top gifting categories. Ethnic wear also emerged as a popular last-minute purchase, with orders for men’s kurtas rising 87 per cent YoY.

Amazon Now, the qcom vertical of ecom giant Amazon, said chocolate gifts were the fastest-growing category, up 2.5 times compared with business as usual, while kaju katli saw twofold growth.

“Speed and selection have always mattered to customers. At Amazon Now, we are focused on making festive shopping faster, easier and more meaningful for customers. Our rakhi store brought together more than 500 unique rakhis, festive essentials and gifting options in one place, with the fastest rakhi order delivered in under 5 minutes. This year, we saw a clear shift towards premiumisation and personalisation in gifting – customers moved beyond regular options to more indulgent ones,” said Nishant Sardana, director of Amazon Now.

Qcom-only platform Zepto also saw demand spread across metros as well as regional markets. On the platform, consumers purchased traditional roli-chawal and Rudraksha rakhis alongside evil-eye, silver- and gold-plated, and multi-pack variants. Chocolates, beauty products and nut boxes were among the popular gifting choices. Delhi alone accounted for one in every 10 rakhis sold on Zepto.

At Swiggy Instamart, demand shifted towards premium gifting. Sales of premium rakhis surged 20 times compared with last year, with strong demand for silver designs, according to the pre-Rakhi sales data. Searches for jewellery brands such as Kalyan Jewellers, Palmonas and GIVA also increased. The platform had said that the overall rakhi gifting segment could grow around threefold this year.

But the trend was not limited to India’s biggest cities. Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar and Chandigarh emerged among the fastest-growing markets for premium rakhis on Instamart.

On the ecom side, Meesho saw orders grow 36 per cent YoY and gross merchandise value rise 38 per cent during the festival. For Meesho, nearly 73 per cent of rakhi orders came from non-metro markets, while personalised name rakhis emerged as a notable trend, pointing to rising demand for customised gifting.

The trends, overall, point to a shopping season increasingly shaped by convenience, premiumisation, personalisation and the growing purchasing power of consumers outside the country’s largest cities.