Small towns, big carts: How India shopped this summer: Unicommerce
- Sub Editor
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Tier-3 cities' sales surge 21% YoY during the 2025 online summer sales
Shoppers in metro and Tier-1 cities show growing interest in books, makeup, nutraceuticals & travel accessories
Buyers in Tier-2 cities favour healthy food products
In Tier-3 cities, home décor, furnishings, and electronic wearables see rising demand
Unicommerce, one of India’s leading e-commerce and retail enablement SaaS platforms, has revealed the summer online sales trends (May and June) for 2025. The analysis is based on the 160 Mn + order items processed through Unicommerce’s Uniware between May 1st- June 25th 2025.
Tier-3 cities drove a notable 21% YoY growth during the 2025 summer sales, contributing significantly to the overall 8% rise in e-commerce order volumes - underscoring the growing impact of India’s smaller towns on the digital shopping landscape. While the sales kicked off in early May this year, the summer season saw a continued run of sale events, drawing consumers with attractive deals across categories including electronics, apparel, fashion and footwear, beauty and home decor.
The books category saw the highest growth with a 200% jump in order volumes over last year. Home décor and furniture followed with a 100% increase, makeup rose by 76%, electronic wearables saw a 75% jump, healthy foods grew 65%, and nutraceuticals recorded a 53% rise during the period.
Another notable summer trend was the surge in orders for travel accessories, which grew by over 46% year-on-year. Some of the travel products that caught customer attention this season include sling bags, duffle bags, cabin trolleys and backpacks. The increase reflects not only the seasonal surge in travel on account of school summer holidays, but also greater travel on account of upcoming festive season and long weekends - all driving demand for travel-ready essentials.
India’s e-commerce momentum continued through the summer season, with Tier-1 cities and metropolitan areas leading the way and accounting for 42% of total order volumes, according to Unicommerce data. Interestingly, Tier-3 cities followed closely with a 38% share, highlighting the growing appetite for online shopping in smaller towns. Tier-2 cities contributed 20%, reflecting steady engagement from mid-sized urban centres.
“The summer season has become an interesting time of year, as brands and e-commerce platforms concentrate their efforts on driving sales through themed campaigns, early-bird offers, and category-specific promotions,” said Kapil Makhija, MD & CEO of Unicommerce. Consumers in Bharat are increasingly embracing online channels for lifestyle upgrades like smart electronics, stylish home décor, and wellness products - categories once dominated by metro buyers. This interesting trend highlights the deepening of India’s e-commerce sector,” he added.
The mid-year, summer sales open the door for upcoming events by setting the tone for mid-year promotions, testing consumer sentiment, and helping brands fine-tune their strategies ahead of the festive season.
About Unicommerce
Unicommerce’s solutions serve all the key processes of an e-commerce business. Uniware simplifies the backend operations of e-commerce businesses, including inventory management, order processing across multiple channels, warehouse operations, and seamless handling of return inventory. Shipway, a full-stack logistics management platform, offers courier aggregation and shipping automation. Convertway is an AI-enabled marketing automation platform designed to boost conversions and sales.
Unicommerce serves 10,000 brands across 7000+ clients in India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Some of its marquee clients include FabIndia, Lenskart, Timex, TCNS, Mamaearth, Sugar, Emami, Urban Company, Blue Star, Cello, Symphony, Healthkart, GNC, boAt, Portronics, TMRW, Mensa, Landmark Group, Edamama and many more. Unicommerce’s flagship platform, Uniware, achieved an annualised transaction run rate of over 1 billion order items in Q3 FY25. With 30Mn+ annual transactions across the courier aggregation and automation space, Shipway is India’s leading logistics enabler with a strong presence and a footprint spanning 29,000 pin codes.
Unicommerce’s product suite is sector and size-agnostic and designed to meet the business needs of various types and sizes of retail and e-commerce enterprises, both online and offline. Incorporated in 2012, Unicommerce is ISO 27001 (standard for information security management system) & ISO 27701 (standard for data privacy controls) certified. It is listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Limited and BSE Limited.
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