India's festive online sales have started with small-town shoppers doing much of the buying, according to a Bank of America (BofA) report using Sensor Tower app data, as reported by Business Standard on 20 October 2026. The sale window runs from 9 October to 15 November. The report gives no sales value or order counts for the period.
Marketplaces: new buyers and smaller towns
Flipkart's Big Billion Days saw record daily active users on day one, with 6.3 million users online at the same time in the opening hour. New customers rose 34% and non-metro areas made up about 60% of demand. On Amazon's Great Indian Festival, first-time shoppers nearly doubled and more than 72% of visits came from outside the top nine metros. More than one in three Amazon customers chose EMI payments.
Meesho's Mega Blockbuster Sale saw day-one orders up about 75% on a year earlier and transacting customers up about 60%. Customers from Tier III and smaller towns nearly tripled.
Fashion and beauty
Myntra's monthly active users rose 8% from a year earlier to about 93 million in September, and its daily active users were 40% higher in the first six festive days than in September. Nykaa Fashion's monthly users rose 24% to about 17 million. Nykaa's beauty app, at about 20 million monthly users, saw only a moderate festive lift, since its own sales drive sharper peaks.
Quick commerce and food delivery
The festive lift is smaller in daily-need apps. Blinkit's monthly users rose 53% to about 58 million in September, but its average daily users were up just 3% over September in the first six festive days. Zepto's daily users fell 2%. Zomato had about 63 million monthly users (up 12%) and Swiggy about 66 million (up 9%), and food-delivery daily users rose 1–2%. Swiggy's value-focused service Toing grew from about 1 million monthly users in February 2026 to about 18 million in September.
Key numbers
- Flipkart non-metro share: About 60% (Of demand)
- Meesho day-one orders: +75% (Versus a year earlier)
- Amazon visits outside top 9 metros: Over 72% (Great Indian Festival)
- Toing monthly users: About 18 million (From about 1 million in February)
What boards and CFOs should note
Three points stand out. First, demand growth in this festive season is coming from outside the big cities, which affects delivery reach and product mix. Second, EMI use on Amazon shows credit is part of festive buying. Third, app usage is not sales: the report gives no order value.
Source: Business Standard, 20 October 2026. This is a summary of a news report, published as general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice.
This article is journalism and commentary. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and it is not professional advice. Read the full disclaimer.
