Cracker of a Diwali: Quick commerce drives record festive season sales for D2C brands

Quick commerce drives record festive season sales for D2C brands

India’s direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands are on track for their biggest festive season yet, driven by record online demand and a sharp rise in quick commerce-led purchases. From personal care and wellness to comfort accessories and toys, order volumes have climbed rapidly as consumers embraced early festive deals and faster delivery options.

According to several founders Moneycontrol spoke to, sales are up two to three times from the previous year, reflecting stronger discretionary spending and a clear shift toward impulse-led buying across e-commerce and quick commerce platforms.

Quick commerce platforms such as Blinkit and Zepto have emerged as key growth drivers for D2C brands beyond groceries, helping push smaller festive bundles and gifting packs to consumers seeking faster delivery and last-minute convenience.

“This festive season has been noticeably stronger and earlier than 2024. At Nat Habit we’ve seen overall order volumes grow 2X year-on-year, with the strongest weekly spikes coming earlier than in previous years,” co-founder and CEO of beauty and personal care brand Nat Habit Swagatika Das said. “Quick commerce is driving a clear uplift in impulse and last-mile gifting categories, while e-commerce is stronger for larger baskets and curated festival bundles,” she told Moneycontrol.

To keep pace with record order volumes, D2C brands leaned heavily on advance planning and decentralised fulfilment this Diwali. Many pre-positioned inventory across regional hubs, extended warehouse shifts and worked closely with partners to prevent bottlenecks during the peak period.

Comfort-products maker Frido, which saw traffic rise 28 percent and conversions climb 18 percent year-on-year, said strong pre-season planning and a decentralised fulfilment model helped it stay on schedule even at peak volumes.

“Thanks to proactive planning, pre-positioning stock across regional hubs and leveraging a decentralised fulfilment network, we’ve been able to manage orders efficiently and maintain timely deliveries,” co-founder and CEO Ganesh Sonawane said.

For new players such as Kidara Toys, which sells premium and functional toys, close coordination with platforms was key to managing fulfilment at scale. Founder Vanshi Agarwal said logistics challenges were manageable largely because of real-time platform support.

“Platforms have been very proactive in resolving any fulfilment issues in real time,” she said. “We’re allocating inventory where margins and turnaround are stronger, and quick commerce holds a higher budget share for us given the faster stock movement and quicker payouts.”

This year’s Diwali rush also coincided with heightened strain across India’s logistics networks, with packed warehouses, limited fulfilment capacity and a shortage of delivery workers — issues Moneycontrol had reported earlier. Brands said smarter inventory placement and closer coordination with logistics partners were key to keeping deliveries on track despite the pressure.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation played a central role in helping brands handle festive-scale operations this year. From forecasting demand to preventing stockouts and optimising manpower, technology gave D2C companies better control over their supply chains during the busiest weeks of the year.

“AI forecasting models ingest daily sell-through, traffic drivers and historical holiday patterns to suggest reorder quantities and timing,” said Nat Habit’s Das. “Automated replenishment and predictive workforce planning materially reduced stockout incidents and improved fulfilment responsiveness.”

Oracura, which sells oral-care appliances, used customised predictive tools to project volumes and balance fulfilment across platforms. “We have deployed AI for customer service and support, and our operations are entirely managed by our dedicated team,” co-founder Prashant Patil said.

With both traffic and competition peaking, most D2C brands expanded their marketing budgets for visibility during festive campaigns. Founders said ad spends rose by 20–30 percent from 2024, with a larger share directed towards quick commerce platforms to target impulse buyers and last-minute shoppers.

“We’ve strategically increased our marketing spends — roughly 22 percent on e-commerce and 28 percent on quick commerce,” said Frido’s Sonawane. “While e-commerce remains our primary channel for large-basket transactions and discovery, quick commerce allows us to cater to impulse and last-minute buyers.”

Kidara Toys focused on Blinkit’s Listing Spotlight campaigns and keyword bidding to maximise returns during the peak week. “Our marketing spends are about 3X higher in October compared to September,” Agarwal said.

Marketplaces and quick commerce platforms were also more active than in previous years in helping brands manage festive demand. Amazon and Flipkart offered earlier planning windows and co-marketing options, while Blinkit and Zepto provided curated festive storefronts, algorithmic visibility tools and faster payout cycles.

This year’s festive season marked a step up in execution for D2C brands. Backed by AI tools, decentralised fulfilment, and stronger platform coordination, companies managed record order volumes with minimal disruption even as logistics networks stayed under pressure.