India e-commerce festive sales expected to drive massive growth

India’s major e-commerce platforms, Flipkart and Amazon, are preparing for their annual festive sales, with Flipkart’s Big Billion Days and Amazon’s Great Indian Festival expected to launch around late September 2026. These sales events drive massive consumer activity, with projections suggesting India’s online festive sales could exceed ₹1.2 lakh crore in 2025, representing a nearly 27% year-on-year growth.

While these sales offer significant discounts on electronics and appliances, consumers face challenges such as inflated pricing strategies where listed prices are raised shortly before a sale to make discounts appear larger. Additionally, e-commerce brands face operational hurdles during this surge, including high cart abandonment rates, increased Cash on Delivery (COD) orders, and higher Return to Origin (RTO) risks, particularly from shoppers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets.