India’s e-commerce landscape is thriving this festive season, with direct-to-consumer brands and emerging markets driving growth. Operational data from Emiza, a leading Made in India third-party logistics (3PL) provider, reveals that the 2025 festive season is witnessing a marked acceleration in order volumes, with D2C order shipments climbing 30% in 2025. Most notably, tier-2 is now contributing nearly 60% of total festive shipments, a substantial increase from previous years, signalling a deepening of e-commerce penetration beyond traditional metro markets. Not only this, but order volumes are rising 13% YoY and demonstrating India’s consumers’ growing preference for D2C platforms.
This shift reflects a broader maturation of India’s e-commerce ecosystem, where consumers across geographies are increasingly comfortable purchasing directly from brands rather than through traditional retail channels.
The product landscape is also evolving. While fashion (apparel, footwear, accessories) continues to sustain momentum with 15% growth, the beauty, personal care, and cosmetics sector has emerged as the standout category with 50% growth, underscoring strong consumer demand for premium, specialised categories during festive gifting.
“The festive season is showing that consumer expectations are evolving faster than ever,” said Ajay Rao, Founder, Emiza. “Shoppers in smaller cities now demand the same speed and reliability as those in metros, and that shift is driving fundamental changes in how logistics networks are designed. For providers like us, it’s about anticipating demand, placing capacity where it’s needed most, and using technology to make every delivery predictable and efficient. The companies that succeed won’t just scale — they will adapt their operations around the customer, making the end consumer the true centre of every decision.”
Supporting this surge has required significant operational scaling. Emiza added 140,000 cubic feet of warehouse capacity ahead of the season and is managing 0.8 million peak daily shipments. The company’s in-house Warehouse Management System and Order Management System, called Atlas, alongside its Control Tower analytics platform, enable real-time SLA and KPI tracking across operations. Route optimisation and AI/ML capabilities enhance last-mile delivery efficiency, particularly critical for servicing tier-2 and tier-3 markets where logistics infrastructure remains nascent.
Operationally, Emiza increased festive-season hiring by 30%, with a focus on key metros, and achieved 15% female representation in its picking and packing operations. The company’s differentiated logistics service model—offering flexible cost-plus warehousing, innovative last-mile distribution and delivery, comprehensive branded packaging solutions, and region-specific reverse logistics management—has proven essential during high-volume festive periods.
Emiza’s operational data also highlights a broader shift in consumer behaviour that is reshaping India’s logistics landscape. As shoppers across city tiers demand faster deliveries, greater reliability, and seamless post-purchase experiences, 3PL providers are rethinking how and where they build capacity. Fulfilment infrastructure is now being positioned closer to consumption clusters, supported by smarter routing, predictive analytics, and regional warehousing models that respond to local demand patterns. With 27+ fulfilment centres across 12+ cities, Emiza is already adapting to this new geography of demand. The message is clear: the end customer sits firmly at the centre of the e-commerce story, shaping how brands and logistics partners build, operate, and grow.
