NEW DELHI, Nov 12: India's online sales during the festive season, including Diwali, rose 17 per cent to about Rs 1.41 lakh crore in the 34 days ending November 9, a Datum Intelligence report said.
The Festive Barometer 2026 report said festive online sales stood at Rs 1.20 lakh crore in 2025. However, the latest figure was below the firm's earlier forecast of Rs 1.50 lakh crore to Rs 1.55 lakh crore.
The growth rate was the lowest for festive online sales since 2023, the report said. While the number of online transactions increased, consumers spent less on each purchase.
An analysis based on Reserve Bank of India daily data showed that online card transactions rose 7 per cent over 32 days, but their total value fell 6 per cent. Average spending per card transaction declined 13 per cent from Rs 6,830 in 2025 to about Rs 5,970 this year.
Mobile phones accounted for about a quarter of festive online sales this year, down from 35 per cent in 2025. Unit sales of mobile phones fell by about one-fourth to one-third in the initial days of the festive season, while average handset prices rose 16 to 19 per cent due to higher memory chip prices.
The report said the total value of mobile phone sales declined by about 15 per cent. Without the fall in mobile sales, festive online sales growth would have been about 22 per cent instead of 17 per cent.
Online shopping expanded in smaller cities, with about 60 per cent of customers during Flipkart's Big Billion Days sale coming from tier-II and smaller towns. Quick commerce accounted for about 16 per cent of festive online sales, up from 12 per cent in 2025.
From the day before Dhanteras to Diwali, UPI transaction value rose 38 per cent to Rs 4.99 lakh crore, while the number of transactions increased 28 per cent to 3,748 million. The figures also included person-to-person transfers and payments at stores, and could not be treated solely as online goods sales.
