E-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho are doubling down on affordable fashion, home goods and accessories this festive season, expecting lower seller fees and a wider range of inexpensive products to make these categories bigger growth drivers this year.
Flipkart introduced zero commission on products priced below ₹1,000 in November 2025 and extended it to fashion across all price points in July 2026. Amazon followed with a waiver of referral fees, the commission sellers pay on each sale, for products below ₹1,000 in March.
The moves mirror Meesho’s affordability strategy, intensifying competition in India’s fast-growing value-commerce segment, whose share of overall online commerce rose to 13% in the first half of 2026 from 9% in the first half of 2023, according to Redseer data cited in Nomura’s 24 September report on Meesho.
Rising prices of electronics, which accounted for 18% of festive online retail in 2025, according to Redseer, add another dimension to this year’s season. Smartphone prices rose 16% on average in the first half of 2026, according to Counterpoint Research data. Mint reported in August that smartphone and laptop prices had risen 8-15% over the preceding year, driven by a memory-chip squeeze, demand for artificial intelligence hardware and a weaker rupee.
Higher smartphone prices are affecting customers' motivation to upgrade, said Satish Meena, founder of the market research firm Datum Intelligence. “It is not that there will be no volume growth in smartphones, but platforms need sellers from other categories to contribute more,” he said.
Meena expects festive e-commerce sales of about ₹1.5 trillion, roughly 25% higher than in 2025. Smartphones will remain the largest category, accounting for around 28-29% of sales value—still down from 2025's 33%—but fashion, appliances, consumer electronics and home decor are also expected to do well.
“E-commerce, which includes the long-tail categories—a wide range of lower-priced products—is expected to account for almost 16% of sales and is likely to be on the higher side this time,” he said.
More sellers, wider selection
The strategy also taps into a broader shift as greater internet access, easier payments and vernacular and voice-based shopping bring more consumers online, while marketplaces help regional and unbranded products reach buyers beyond local markets, according to Nomura.
Flipkart’s active seller base grew 62% year-on-year and doubled in 15 months, while unique products recording sales increased 33%, said Sakait Chaudhary, senior vice-president and head of softlines, grocery and marketplace.
He attributed the acceleration to zero commission. Sellers are passing savings to customers or reinvesting them in additional product lines and categories, he said.
Lifestyle accounts for about 41% of Flipkart's new sellers, followed by home at 24%. Ethnic wear is the most popular entry point within lifestyle.
Surat has become its second-largest new-seller hub after New Delhi, with growth exceeding 70%. In West Bengal’s Shantipur, the number of tant and jamdani saree weavers and sellers rose from more than 250 in 2025 to more than 770 this year.
Amazon India, whose Great Indian Festival begins on 8 October, said its seller base crossed 2 million, with more than 300,000 additions marking its strongest seller growth in three years. Nomura identifies Amazon Bazaar and Flipkart’s Shopsy as competitors to Meesho, with fashion, home and kitchen among Bazaar’s principal categories.
In the 12 months ended 30 June, Meesho had more than 274 million annual transacting users, 1.04 million annual transacting sellers and 2.83 billion placed orders. About 75% of users come from tier-II and smaller cities, a spokesperson said.
Meesho’s Raksha Bandhan orders grew 36% on-year, with 73% coming from non-metro markets and seller participation increasing 72%.
The spokesperson said zero commission and low-cost logistics help sellers offer competitive prices. Meesho is also adding national brands through Meesho Mall and more premium options through Meesho Gold.
The economics of affordability
Meesho’s growth shows how value commerce can expand through more orders, even as shoppers spend less per purchase. Its average order value fell to ₹265 in FY26 from ₹274 in FY25, while placed orders rose 45.5% to about 2.67 billion, according to Nomura.
The brokerage forecasts about 23% annual growth in Meesho’s net merchandise value over FY27-FY30, supported by roughly 19% growth in transacting users and 5% in ordering frequency, despite a projected 2% annual decline in average order value.
Ravindra Kumar Yadav, partner at management consulting firm The Knowledge Company, said that larger e-commerce platforms are following a model Meesho has already tested.
“The strategy is to reduce commissions and increase revenue from the supply chain and advertising. It is exactly what Meesho had done earlier. They are replicating it to see if it works,” he said.
Zero commission, however, does not make selling free for sellers; platforms earn revenue through logistics and advertising instead.
“There are always logistics fees and ad spends. The only thing they are not charging is the commission,” Meena said.
Flipkart Internet earned ₹6,317 crore from advertising in FY25, about 31% of revenue. Meesho’s advertising revenue amounted to about 3% of net merchandise value in the June quarter, according to Nomura, which expects that share to reach 5% by FY30.
About two-thirds of Meesho’s supplier base uses its advertising products, according to Nomura, showing that sellers pay for visibility even on a zero-commission marketplace.
For smaller sellers, the pitch from Amazon and Flipkart is straightforward: spend on marketing to gain visibility and keep prices competitive to attract more buyers, Yadav said. But reaching shoppers does not necessarily mean winning their trust. “The smaller players will spend. But the flip side is whether consumers will have enough confidence in these smaller brands,” he said.