India’s gifting market is seeing its biggest festive season yet, with sales through quick commerce platforms like Zepto, Blinkit and Instamart jumping 40%-50% year-on-year.
Kindly note the images have only been published for representational purposes. Photograph: Kind courtesy Bob Dmyt/Pixabay
India’s gifting market is unwrapping its biggest festival surge yet, with sales through quick commerce (qcom) channels jumping 40 TO 50 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y).
The boom is being driven by instant deliveries, impulse shopping, and hyperlocal inventories that allow consumers to send gifts within minutes instead of days.
From cakes and curated hampers to flowers and chocolates, qcom is rewriting the rules of festival gifting.
Avi Kumar, chief marketing officer of gifting company FNP, which is available on Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto, said, “We are seeing nearly 50 per cent Y-o-Y growth in qcom sales, with fresh flower bouquets, celebration hampers, and indoor plants leading demand.”
Kumar said the platform has witnessed a 38 per cent rise in flower sales, a 30 per cent increase in gift hampers, 18 per cent growth in cakes and chocolates, and a modest 4 per cent rise in plants and eco-friendly gifting options.
Another gifting company, IGP, which sells on Zepto and Blinkit, said it is seeing a 40 per cent jump in sales.
Tarun Joshi, founder and CEO of the platform, said gifting continues to be at the heart of celebrations across India.
“Cakes and personalised gifts, curated hampers, and flowers are the key drivers of our sales this year, each contributing about one-third to the overall business. During festival periods, we also see strong demand for hampers and merchandise,” Joshi said, speaking on categories that are showing an uptick.
Photograph: Kind courtesy JillWellington/Pixabay
According to a report by Datum Intelligence, gifting-related purchases such as festival hampers and essentials drove a sharp uptick in grocery sales during the first week of festive season sale which began on September 22.
As a result, grocery emerged as the fastest-growing category, recording a 44 per cent Y-o-Y rise.
It also mentioned that spikes typically occur around key festival dates when households stock up on gifting packs, sweets, beverages, and last-minute essentials.
Industry players, including FNP and IGP, said the convenience of almost instant delivery is making qcom a go-to choice for festival gifting.
“Qcom is complementing our delivery network by enabling last-minute and impulse gifting, especially in metros. Growth is driven by hyper-local inventory, faster fulfilment, and rising consumer comfort in ordering premium gifts instantly,” Kumar said.
Echoing Kumar’s thoughts, Joshi, too, said, “Qcom primarily caters to last-minute and impulse buyers, with strong demand for cakes and curated gift hampers. On qcom, we are seeing high demand for our curated collections, highlighting consumer desire for both convenience and thoughtful gifting.”
Qcom platform Zepto said gifting has emerged as one of the most exciting growth drivers this festival season.
Devendra Meel, the platform’s chief business officer, said Zepto has a unique advantage to fulfil the demand for last-minute and same-day gifting.
“We are seeing strong demand across categories such as curated sweet hampers, chocolates, dry fruits, and fresh flowers, alongside premium picks like watches and perfumes. A clear shift this year is the rise of last-minute and same-day gifting, which quick commerce is uniquely positioned to serve.
“What was once planned weeks in advance is now being fulfilled in real time. We expect gifting to continue becoming a bigger share of festival shopping in the years to come,” Meel said.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Amazon
Not only Zepto, rival Swiggy had also entered the gifting space last month with a new category called Giftables.
It offers gifts across categories, including premium chocolates, cakes, flowers, electronics, jewellery, toys, and more, with a delivery promise of 10-60 minutes.
On the launch of Giftables, Phani Kishan, co-founder and chief growth officer of Swiggy, said, “At Swiggy, our vision is to offer unparalleled convenience to our customers. With Giftables, we’re solving a real consumer pain point. Gifting is often last-minute and full of uncertainty. With Giftables on Swiggy, users get curated, high-quality options delivered in under an hour. No more juggling platforms or settling for uninspired gifts.”
Overall, as early performance indicators point to stronger growth, gifting platforms project overall festival sales to rise about 40-45 per cent over last year’s numbers. We expect overall festival sales to continue growing for the rest of the season and anticipate crossing last year’s numbers.” Joshi said.
“Based on current trends and festival season performance so far, we project that we will exceed last year’s sales by around 45 per cent,” added Joshi.
Similarly, Kumar noted that the platform is projecting a 40 per cent increase over last year’s festival numbers.
“The momentum is supported by stronger corporate gifting, rising demand for premium assortments, and expanded express delivery capabilities,” he added.
Speaking on the overall growth of gifting companies, Neha Singh, co-founder of market intelligence platform Tracxn, said the gifting and rewards sector is evolving into a globally relevant, innovation-led category.
“Over the last decade, we have seen over $2.5 billion flow into gifting startups, not just to scale transactions, but to reimagine consumer experience, convenience, and loyalty,” she said.
“India has built a strong base of resilient, founder-led businesses that are defining new benchmarks in digital-first branding and operational efficiency,” Singh added.
Notably, on an all-time basis, funding in India stands at $159.4 million, while global gifting startups have collectively raised $2.52 billion.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
