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Quick commerce gains as last-minute events drive Valentine’s demand
Love has always been serious business. Why should its doorstep delivery be any different?
Swiggy Instamart registered a 10x growth in orders for jewellery, greeting cards, and plush toys for Valentine's week, while Flipkart Minutes clocked a 7x year-on-year (YoY) increase in sales.
“At exactly 11:59 am on February 14, chocolates hit their sweetest high with 1,042 orders per minute, the highest per-minute spike ever recorded on Valentine's Day,” Swiggy Instamart said.
Flipkart Minutes saw the number of orders peaking on February 14 between 9-10 am and 7-8 pm, with demand spreading beyond the traditional metro bailiwicks to towns such as Ranchi, Siliguri, Ludhiana, and Dehradun.
“After Diwali, events like Valentine's Day, Christmas, Raksha Bhandhan are emerging as key events or festivals for quick commerce,” said Renu Bisht, founder of D2C consulting firm Commercify360. "For D2C brands, these are becoming larger events overall. Quick commerce is an enabler because many people look at last-minute gifting options. It becomes a great option for D2C brands — from flowers to cakes to regular gifting items.”
For V-Day, the prep began early, as the likes of Zepto, Blinkit, Flipkart Minutes and Swiggy's Instamart created dedicated sections on their apps featuring brand deals, offers, and promotions a week before February 14.
Also Read: Gifting, wellness brands find love on qcomm this Valentine's week
The festive period, which starts after Raksha Bandhan in August and goes on until Diwali in October, remains the largest sales period for both ecommerce and quick commerce platforms in the online retail space. In 2025, the month-long festive season recorded over 30% YoY growth and sold Rs 1.24 lakh crore gross merchandise value (GMV) of goods during the period.
However, quick commerce platforms are increasingly curating event-focussed sales for driving occasion-led shopping. Take India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup match. Zepto has a ‘Match Ready' segment and Instamart has ‘Game On' zone, where they have curated all snacks like popcorn, chips; beverages like soft drinks and juices; and jerseys.
For Valentine's week, the key categories in demand were flowers, chocolates and gift packs across quick commerce platforms. In Valentine's week, brands across gifting categories such as fashion and accessories, jewellery, beauty and personal care, as well as sexual health and wellness noted strong customer demand, ET reported on February 13.
“We have seen a strong uptick across categories like chocolates, fresh flowers, fragrances, jewelry, beauty, fashion, electronics and gift cards. Growing enthusiasm among customers, particularly in the 18 to 35 age group for celebrating special occasions,” said Saurabh Srivastava, vice president, Amazon India.
According to analysts, the majority of the order and revenue volume during the sales are still driven by FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) companies but D2C brands are seeing growing demand and gaining visibility.
Also Read: Exclusive: IPO-bound Flipkart explores food delivery launch
D2C Sales
D2C brands like Mymuse, Salty, Pilgrim, Bombay Shaving Company among others are seeing increased customer engagement as brands deals, offers, and event-led sales drive demand on quick commerce.
Gifting company Floweraura recorded a strong 32% YoY growth during the Valentine's peak period of February 13 and 14 and flowers emerged as the highest-selling category.
For jewellery brand Palmonas, Valentine's day sales grew bigger this year compared to last year on quick commerce. "Majority of orders came from the Rs 1,000– Rs1,400 range, which clearly emerged as the sweet spot for customers seeking premium yet affordable gifting options," said Pallavi Mohadikar, cofounder of Palmonas.
Similarly, sexual wellness brand Mymuse saw a 60% YoY growth on quick commerce driven by their massagers, adult card games and accessories. “A key driver here is the geographical expansion of quick commerce, which is fueling discovery. We are seeing these platforms become a primary entry point for customers trying sexual wellness products at accessible price points,” said Sahil Gupta, cofounder of Mymuse.
On Instamart, the sexual wellness category grew over three times YoY due to changing consumer behaviour, according to the company.
Other categories that saw customer engagement include beauty and personal care, makeup, fragrance and clothing. Bla Bli Blu, a Gurugram-based D2C fragrance brand, reported an 80–85% sales uptick during the Valentine's period across channels. On quick-commerce, it saw a 6X growth.
The company used offline marketing techniques to attract customers. “We used pesticide machines farmers use in farmlands — we filled those machines with fragrance, and we're basically doing a love run in those societies and spreading those fragrances,” said Rajat Khullar, cofounder of Bla Bli Blu.
Source: EconomicTimes
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