Quick Commerce and Food Delivery Platforms Report Surge in Navratri Festive Demand

Quick commerce and food delivery platforms across India recorded a surge in demand for festive food, sweets, ethnic wear, and puja essentials during the Navratri festival, as consumers increasingly turned to online channels for both traditional celebrations and last-minute requirements.

Data shared by Swiggy indicated a 36.4 per cent increase in orders for traditional sweets between October 17 and 20, compared to the same festive period in the previous year. Rasgulla emerged as the most-ordered sweet on the platform, averaging 495 orders per hour. Demand was primarily driven by consumers in Delhi, Mumbai, and Gurugram, while other popular choices included gulab jamun, kaju katli, jalebi, and rasmalai.

Among individual transactions, a customer in Mumbai placed the platform's largest rasgulla order during the four-day period, valued at ₹9,870, which included coffee rasgulla tiramisu.

Fasting foods also saw high demand over the weekend of October 17-18. Swiggy delivered an average of 1,794 sabudana dishes per hour nationwide, with sabudana khichdi and sabudana vada being the top preferences. Demand for khichdi was particularly notable in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, and Jaipur. Vrat thalis, featuring options like singhara poori and rajgira poori with aloo hing, also witnessed substantial traction. A customer in Noida placed an order worth ₹11,072 for 13 Navratri special vrat thalis with singhara poori.

Similarly, Zepto Cafe served 12,500 portions of sabudana vada and falahari mixture during the festive window. The quick commerce platform Zepto also reported an increase in demand for festive essentials, clothing, and accessories, highlighting the adoption of quick delivery models for festive preparations.

Traditional lehenga cholis debuted on Zepto during the period, with Bengaluru leading the order volumes. Overall, festive wear orders grew by 400 per cent across key cities, while sales of oxidised jewellery registered a 40-fold increase. The last-minute nature of these purchases was reflected in the demand for dandiya sticks, which peaked at 6 pm on October 16, just ahead of Garba celebrations. Zepto noted that approximately 70 per cent of festive essentials were ordered on the same day as the Garba events.

Fasting ingredients similarly recorded sharp increases compared to the previous year's Navratri period. Buckwheat flour orders rose 16.4-fold and singhara flour orders grew 16.1-fold. Serving plates and bowls also saw notable growth, increasing 8.6-fold and 4.7-fold respectively.

Physical strain from festive celebrations drove demand for recovery products as well. Sales of Band-Aid rose by 20 per cent and Moov sales increased by 15 per cent in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Meanwhile, sales of Fast&Up and other oral rehydration solution products peaked around 9 pm.

"The recent Navratri sales data highlights how quick commerce and food delivery platforms have successfully embedded themselves into traditional Indian festivals. By catering to last-minute requirements—ranging from fasting ingredients and sweets to apparel and recovery products—these companies are changing consumer behavior. For the retail and e-commerce ecosystem, this trend points to a clear shift towards convenience and speed during peak festive periods, creating new operational benchmarks for inventory management and supply chain logistics." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes