There is a clear shift in the way India’s small towns, or Bharat, shop even as the Black Friday & Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend witnessed a 58% year-on-year jump in sales for the homegrown D2C brands.
What once felt like a metro-driven trend has expanded into a nationwide retail phenomenon. New insights from GoKwik, India’s leading ecommerce enablement platform, show that the BFCM window from November 28 to December 1, 2025, has become a major consumer event across the country. Indian D2C brands on the GoKwik network recorded a 58 % year-on-year jump in Gross Merchandise Volume along with a 63% rise in total orders, growing at more than twice the pace seen in global markets.
The shopping frenzy followed a distinct pattern, highlighting the behavior of the Indian consumer. Peak orders were recorded on Friday at 10 PM, as post-dinner scrolling turned into a nationwide shopping spree. However, the serious high-ticket purchases happened earlier.
Maximum spends happened on Friday at 4 PM, suggesting that high-intent buyers did not wait for the night to secure premium deals or lose limited stock offers.
GoKwik’s data reveals that 41% of all shoppers hailed from Tier 3 India. However, the growth was not driven solely by remote rural areas, but by India’s booming satellite and smart cities. Top districts contributing to the Tier 3 surge included Rangareddy (near Hyderabad), Gautam Buddha Nagar (near Noida), and Kanchipuram (near Chennai).
Another interesting shift was in payments mode. Online payment methods overtook Cash on Delivery during this mega-sale event, signaling a massive increase in consumer trust even as shoppers made prepaid orders.
Conversational commerce, or commerce on WhatsApp, also boomed as brands engaged shoppers like never before. WhatsApp outreach tripled compared to last year, as brands sent three times more messages to drive conversions and provide real-time updates. This surge started early, with a 55% spike in messages the day before BFCM began, as brands aggressively built awareness and anticipation ahead of the sale.
Key Highlights from the Report:
- The “Vampire Economy”: Nearly 10% of all orders were placed between 12:00 AM and 6:00 AM
- South India emerged as the winner in D2C brand consumption (31.4%), edging out North India (29.3%) and West India (22.7%)
- 5% of merchants doubled their sales compared to the days leading up to BFCM
- Books & Stationery grew 394%, and Jewellery grew 200% during the period
GoKwik currently powers 15,000+ brands, including Lenskart, Neeman’s, Man Matters, Mamaearth, and others, across fashion, beauty, electronics, wellness, and lifestyle categories. With a shopper network of 200 million+, GoKwik enables D2C brands to improve conversions, reduce RTOs, and enhance shopper engagement through its suite of checkout, communication, and growth products.
Chirag Taneja, Co-founder and CEO, GoKwik, said, “The biggest signal of BFCM wasn’t the surge but the shift. Smaller cities out-shopped metros, online payments rose sharply, and shoppers collectively saved over Rs 55 crore in discounts over the weekend.”
