Synopsis
The Christmas gifting season saw a 20-30% sales boost for D2C brands in categories such as personal care, desserts, eatables, and activewear, driven by convenience, personalization, and premium offerings. Quick commerce platforms like Zepto, Blinkit, and Swiggy Instamart, among others, played a key role in fuelling gifting-focused sales, enabling last-minute purchases, according to several brands. TIL Creatives The Christmas gifting season, driven by the convenience of quick commerce, delivered a significant business boost for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands. Sales across categories such as personal care, desserts and other eatables, as well as activewear rose 20-30% from last year.
The strong performance signals a shift in consumer priorities, with convenience, personalisation and premium offerings driving purchase decisions.
Gifting brand Ferns N Petals said sales rose 30% from early December. “Premium hampers have been a standout favourite,” said Avi Kumar, chief marketing officer at Ferns N Petals. “Gourmet cakes also saw heavy demand.”
ETtech Aadit Palicha, cofounder of Zepto, posted on LinkedIn that the quick commerce platform saw a threefold growth in sales for seasonal picks such as plum cakes and Christmas trees.
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There was a doubling of gifting overall from last year, while products under the Christmas décor category registered a ninefold increase year-on-year, said Palicha.
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Based on the trend, brands are expected to double down on quick commerce partnerships, new gifting-focused product categories, and marketing strategies to maintain this growth trajectory into the next year, analysts said.
Beauty and personal care brand Pilgrim said there was significant consumer interest in skincare product gifting. Of the total sales of moisturisers and body lotions this month, 15-20% was attributed to gifting. This contrasts with previous years, when most gifts in the beauty and personal care category were products such as perfumes, according to Anurag Kedia, cofounder of Pilgrim.
ETtech “Consumers are looking at options that are seen as personal. Because this is about skincare and wellness
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