Festive shopping is spreading beyond metros this Dhanteras, with e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms reporting sharp rises in jewellery, precious metals and two-wheeler purchases from smaller cities. Amazon India and Swiggy Instamart shared early trends showing demand extending past the large cities, ahead of Dhanteras on 6 November and Diwali on 8 November. Gold remained the preferred choice, and two-wheeler sales rose far above their average-day pace.
Amazon India said fashion jewellery shoppers grew over 50 per cent year-on-year during the festive season, while first-time jewellery buyers increased more than 20 per cent. “More customers are choosing Amazon.in for their jewellery purchases, with fashion jewellery shoppers growing over 50 per cent year-on-year and customers shopping for jewellery on Amazon.in for the first time growing over 20 per cent year-on-year,” an Amazon India spokesperson said. Gold purchases led the trend, with gold rings up over 35 per cent, earrings up nearly 30 per cent and neckwear up 25 per cent.
Demand from tier-two and tier-three cities such as Unnao, Bharuch and Akola grew up to 2.5 times year-on-year, while new jewellery buyers in smaller cities increased over 40 per cent. Lab-grown diamond jewellery purchases tripled, while silver idols and figurines grew nearly 2.7 times. The pattern points to festive shopping reaching buyers who once depended on local shops for such purchases.
Festive shopping and the gold rush on Instamart
Festive shopping on Instamart has seen a sharp rise in precious-metal purchases, with gold sales growing 258 per cent year-on-year and silver purchases increasing 185 per cent over the past 12 months. Bengaluru leads purchases on the platform, followed by Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. “Bengaluru leads India’s gold and silver shopping on Instamart,” the company said.
One Bengaluru customer purchased gold worth Rs 2.52 lakh in a single day, including five 50-gram silver bars and several gold coins. Ahead of Dhanteras, Instamart has partnered with Kalyan Jewellers to offer gold coins, including 0.1-gram denominations, through its sellers. The partnership puts small-denomination gold coins within reach of quick-commerce delivery, timed for the day when buying gold is considered auspicious.
The Instamart figures cover 12 months of buying, not only the festive week, which makes the 258 per cent gold growth a longer trend rather than a single-day spike. Dhanteras gives festive shopping a focal point, since many households time a gold purchase to the festival. The platform’s city ranking also shows the demand is led by Bengaluru, not by the traditional jewellery centres alone.
Festive shopping extends to two-wheelers
Beyond precious metals, Amazon reported a sixfold increase in two-wheeler sales during its Great Indian Festival compared with the average-day pace. Electric two-wheeler sales grew eightfold, with more than 60 per cent of overall purchases coming from non-metro markets. Commuter vehicles grew fastest, at 13.5 times the average-day pace, while premium motorcycles grew 2.5 times.
Popular brands included Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Triumph and KTM, with electric models led by Chetak and Ampere. Customers could research, compare and purchase from more than 200 two-wheeler models on Amazon.in, and sales on the automotive store grew 2.2 times as buyers added helmets, dashcams, riding gear and car care products. The non-metro share of two-wheeler sales, at over 60 per cent, matches the wider shift in festive shopping toward smaller cities.
Amazon’s Great Indian Festival runs through Dhanteras and Diwali, so the two-wheeler figures will keep moving as the festival weekend arrives. The early numbers already show that vehicles, like gold, are now bought online in large numbers outside the metros. For sellers, the festival has become a test of delivery and stock in smaller cities as much as in the large ones.
What festive shopping shows this year
The trends from Amazon and Instamart describe festive shopping as a national pattern rather than a metro event. Jewellery buyers grew fastest in smaller cities, gold coins moved onto a quick-commerce platform, and two-wheeler sales came mostly from outside the metros. Each of those shifts was already under way before the festival, and Dhanteras has made it visible in a single week.
Whether the pace holds through Diwali will depend on the festival weekend itself, with Dhanteras on 6 November and Diwali on 8 November. The platforms have reported their early trends before the peak days, so the final festive shopping totals will be higher than the figures shared so far.