Festive Ecommerce: The Battle Beyond The Checkout |
Festive Ecommerce: The Battle Beyond The Checkout
Festive ecommerce in 2026 will not be won by the brands and marketplaces that attract the most traffic or offer the biggest discounts. It will be won by those that can make their entire commerce operation work together – from inventory and payments to fulfilment, AI and returns
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In last week’s edition of The Checkout, we explored how efficient dark store management will be central to quick commerce platforms’ festive season sales strategies. Therefore, this week, we decided to move to the next layer of India’s ecommerce ecosystem: marketplaces and ecommerce enablers.
Ahead of this year’s festive season, the ecommerce stack appears to be shifting from a basic support layer (payments, storefronts, and logistics) to a more integrated, technology-driven commerce infrastructure.
A case in point is Cashfree Payments, which recently rolled out zero payment gateway fees for eligible new merchants. On the other hand, marketplaces are building tools and infrastructure that go beyond the storefront.
In June, Amazon launched an AI-powered seller assistant in India to help merchants with onboarding, catalogue creation, advertising, inventory management and cross-border expansion.
More money is now flowing through a more complex commerce stack, with more channels and fulfilment points. This means more points where an order can go wrong. A single order depends on everything working smoothly, from inventory and fulfilment to checkout and returns. If any one of these fails, brands can lose the sale despite spending heavily to attract the customer.
So, the marketplace test in 2026 will go beyond attracting traffic. The real challenge will be turning that traffic into profitable sales by getting inventory, fulfilment, customer engagement and payments to work in tandem.
So, the marketplace test in 2026 will go beyond attracting traffic. The real challenge will be turning that traffic into profitable sales by getting inventory, fulfilment, customer engagement and payments to work in tandem.
Building A Connected Inventory Network
Festive sales are no longer just about having enough stock. Brands need to know what customers will buy, where they will buy it and how quickly the inventory can reach them.
According to Achint Setia, the CEO of Snapdeal, answering these questions requires balancing demand and supply across marketplaces, brand websites, physical stores and quick commerce. The task becomes harder when the same inventory pool is shared across these channels without real-time visibility into what has already been sold.
According to Achint Setia, the CEO of Snapdeal, answering these questions requires........