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Festive shopping is extending beyond traditional big-ticket purchases such as televisions and refrigerators, with consumers increasingly adding beauty and personal care (BPC) and healthcare products to their baskets, according to Nishant Dalal, Vice President, Consumables, FMCG and Healthcare, Flipkart. The company is seeing strong growth in these categories, supported by Gen Z shoppers and rising digital engagement, while premium products and quick commerce are emerging as key drivers of festive demand.
“Consumers are now shopping across categories, including makeup, skincare and products for children,” Dalal shared in media reports.
Strong demand across everyday consumption categories is shaping Flipkart’s festive season, with its FMCG business growing around 50% year-on-year and beauty nearly 60%. The growth is being supported by an increase in both customers and orders, while beauty is expected to remain an important contributor during the festive period, according to Nishant Dalal, Vice President, Consumables, FMCG and Healthcare, Flipkart.
Premium perfumes and makeup are already seeing strong demand, particularly in markets where Durga Puja and Navratri are major festivals. Baby care and health and fitness products are also recording healthy growth, especially in markets beyond the metros, Dalal said.
Quick commerce is emerging as another important growth channel for beauty and personal care (BPC) in metro markets. Flipkart Minutes has grown fivefold over the past year and now contributes around 15% of Flipkart’s BPC business, according to Dalal.
Outside the metros, rising digital awareness is influencing how consumers discover and evaluate products. Social media influencers, along with the growing presence of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, are helping bring new categories and product information to shoppers in tier-2 and tier-3 markets.
Consumers, particularly Gen Z and millennials, are increasingly researching products before making a purchase, with ingredients and product efficacy becoming important considerations. For instance, shoppers are seeking details such as the concentration of active ingredients in skincare products. This growing awareness is also supporting demand for products in higher price segments, Dalal said.
Gen Z has already become a significant contributor to Flipkart’s business across FMCG, general merchandise and beauty. The cohort accounts for more than 50% of the company’s business across these categories, with its contribution even higher in beauty.
The cohort’s digital-first behaviour is also influencing product selection and curation. Gen Z consumers are closely following trends on Instagram and other social platforms and increasingly have individualised preferences. This is encouraging Flipkart to work with brands to bring new products and innovations to consumers faster while keeping them accessible at affordable price points, Dalal said.
However, rising input costs continue to remain a pressure point across these categories. Rather than offsetting cost pressures through reductions elsewhere, Flipkart is working with sellers to improve scale and procurement efficiencies, with the aim of keeping products competitively priced.
“Our endeavour is to help sellers get a larger scale, and hence bring down or optimise their costs,” he said.
Amid increasing scrutiny around food and FMCG compliance, Dalal said Flipkart has checks in place to ensure products meet the required standards and reviews its catalogue whenever concerns or issues arise.
“I don’t think we need to add a lot of layers in terms of scrutiny because we already had a strong compliance in place earlier as well,” he said.
