DBT Bureau
Pune, 17 Oct 2025
The 2025 Diwali festive season ended on a strong note for India’s e-commerce sector, which recorded a 24% year-on-year (YoY) growth in order volumes and a 23% rise in gross merchandise value, according to Unicommerce, India’s leading e-commerce enablement SaaS platform.
The insights are based on over 150 million transactions processed through Unicommerce’s flagship platform, Uniware, during the 25-day festive period in 2024 and 2025. Tier II and III cities together contributed around 55% of total orders, highlighting the growing digital adoption and purchasing power in smaller towns.
Quick commerce platforms emerged as the biggest growth driver, recording a 120% YoY jump in order volumes, followed by brand websites with a 33% rise. Marketplaces remained the dominant channel, accounting for 38% of total purchases and growing 8% YoY in order volumes.
Regionally, tier II cities led growth with a 28% YoY increase in orders, followed by tier I cities and metros at 24%, and tier III towns at 23%, reflecting widespread festive momentum across the country.
Top-performing categories included FMCG (driven by healthy food products like fusion sweets, dry fruit combos and millet namkeens), home decor & furniture, beauty & wellness (led by makeup and hygiene), and health & pharma (fueled by strong demand for supplements).
On the payments front, prepaid orders grew 26%, signaling stronger trust in digital transactions, while Cash-on-Delivery (COD) orders climbed 22% in volume and 35% in GMV, indicating a shift toward higher-value COD purchases and deeper consumer confidence in e-commerce platforms.
Further reinforcing this growth momentum, data from Unicommerce’s logistics platform, Shipway, showed that orders were delivered faster this year, with average shipping times during the 2025 festive season 15% shorter than last year. This reflects enhanced supply chain readiness, smarter demand forecasting, and accelerated last-mile delivery, ensuring seamless and timely fulfillment even amid peak festive demand.
