A report shows that brands will need to move from reactive discounting to early planning, sharper inventory allocation and faster fulfilment
India’s festive retail landscape is set to be shaped by smarter inventory planning, rising demand from tier 3 cities and value-led pricing, as brands shift their focus from deep discounting to faster execution and omnichannel readiness. A report has stated that retailers that plan early, place inventory closer to demand and optimise fulfilment across channels will be better positioned to capitalise on the country’s biggest shopping season while protecting margins.
Fynd’s Festive Readiness Report 2026, which analysed the shifts from the 2024 and 2025 festive seasons, revealed that tier 3 cities contributed 46 per cent of festive demand, ahead of tier 1 at 35 per cent and tier 2 at 19 per cent, making smaller-city assortment, sizing, pricing and delivery promises critical.
The report pointed out that 77 per cent of returns during these seasons happened when delivery took more than three days, making sub-three-day fulfilment a direct lever for both conversion and margin protection. “Real-time, unified stock visibility will decide who captures the earlier festive peak and who loses sales to stockouts,” the report said.
In 2025, festive demand peaked eight days before Diwali, while pre-Navratri D2C order volumes were already up 16 per cent year on year. Average markdowns fell from 44 per cent in 2024 to 34 per cent in 2025, showing that shoppers continued to buy even as brands protected margins.
At the same time, 55 per cent of sales happened below Rs 2,000, making value-led pricing more important than blanket discounting, the report pointed out.
“Festive 2026 will not be won by the brands that discount the deepest, but by those that prepare the earliest and execute the fastest. The 2025 season showed us that people shopping from tier 3 cities are now leading mainstream growth markets and store-led fulfilment is becoming critical to speed and margin protection,” stated Ragini Varma, Chief Business Officer, India, Fynd.
Key Marketplaces and Store-led Fulfilment
The report noted that Myntra, JioMart and Flipkart together accounted for nearly 80 per cent of festive demand, with Myntra alone contributing 49 per cent, requiring brands to allocate inventory and ad spend by marketplace strength.
Store-led fulfilment rose from 29 per cent of orders in 2024 to 51 per cent in 2025, overtaking warehouses and helping brands ship faster from locations closer to customers. Prepaid crossed 53 per cent of payments, while cash-on-delivery (COD) drove 73 per cent of returns-to-origin.
The report draws on Fynd’s marketplace intelligence data covering leading marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Ajio, Nykaa, JioMart and other major commerce platforms.
