E-commerce platforms have rolled out festive-season sales, bank discounts, exchange offers and easy monthly instalment schemes to attract shoppers ahead of Diwali, as rising product prices and tighter household budgets push consumers towards lower-priced goods and value-for-money purchases.Amazon India’s Great Indian Festival and Flipkart’s Big Billion Days, which opened to customers on October 8 and 9, respectively, are using no-cost equated monthly instalments (EMIs), cashbacks and bank-card discounts to encourage purchases during one of the country’s biggest shopping periods. A report, citing Redseer Strategy Consultants, said products priced below Rs 500 accounted for about half of festive orders. The shift towards affordability was also reflected in payment choices, it said.The festive shopping rush is also benefiting quick-commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart.The festive shopping rush is also benefiting quick-commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart, which are competing for orders involving groceries, sweets, snacks, personal-care products and other last-minute festive requirements.According to Datum Intelligence’s 2026 Festive AdEx report, brands are expected to spend Rs 2,200 crore on advertising through quick-commerce platforms during the festive season, a 50% increase from a year earlier.The report estimated that quick commerce accounted for USD 9 billion of India’s online retail gross merchandise value in the first half of 2026, or around 22% of the total online retail market valued at USD 40.9 billion.The growing popularity of rapid deliveries is encouraging brands to use these platforms not only for distribution but also for product discovery and targeted promotions.Trade experts say despite the promotional push, the early performance of the festive sales indicates that higher prices are affecting discretionary spending.”Smartphone prices, for instance, had risen by around 15% year-on-year, leaving several models more expensive than during last year’s festive sales even after discounts. Industry estimates have put the decline in overall festive sales during the first four days at around 7-10%,” trade analyst Sudheer Ravi said.With Diwali approaching, e-commerce companies and brands will be looking to sustain demand through additional offers, financing options and faster deliveries. The performance of the remaining festive period will help determine whether discounts and easier payment options can encourage consumers to make bigger purchases or whether shoppers will continue to prioritize smaller-ticket products, he said.For online retailers, the challenge this season is to convert festive interest into actual spending at a time when consumers are becoming more price-conscious and increasingly selective about their purchases.