Delhi leads Independence sale with 27.7 per cent growth as Tier 3 markets surge

MUMBAI: India’s festive shopping recovery is finding fresh fuel beyond the usual big-city hotspots. Delhi led the Independence season sale with a 27.7 per cent year-on-year increase in gross merchandise value (GMV), while Tier 3 markets emerged as the biggest driver of the broader recovery, according to the Fynd Freedom Sale Report 2026.

The report by Fynd, an AI-native retail technology company backed by Reliance Retail Ventures, tracks Independence Day sale performance across marketplaces, cities, states and city tiers during the comparable July 29 to August 13 period in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Overall GMV rose 17.6 per cent year on year to Rs 21.32 crore in 2026, recovering more than half of the decline recorded in 2025. However, sales remained below the 2024 peak of Rs 24.04 crore.

The biggest shift came from smaller cities. Tier 3 markets generated Rs 10.35 crore in sales, up 23.8 per cent from a year earlier, and accounted for 48.5 per cent of total GMV. They contributed 62.4 per cent of the overall year-on-year rebound.

Tier 3 markets were also the only city tier to return to their 2024 sales levels. Their 2026 sales were 0.3 per cent above 2024, while Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets remained 18.1 per cent and 22.4 per cent below their respective 2024 levels.

The growth was not concentrated in a handful of smaller cities. Gautam Buddha Nagar was the largest Tier 3 market, generating Rs 17.38 lakh, but accounted for only 1.7 per cent of Tier 3 sales, pointing to a wider distribution of demand.

Marketplace rankings also shifted during the sale period. Myntra retained its lead with Rs 9.10 crore in GMV, accounting for 42.7 per cent of total sales.

Flipkart recorded the sharpest growth among major marketplaces, with GMV jumping 156.3 per cent to Rs 4.13 crore. The surge moved Flipkart from third place in 2025 to second in 2026.

The marketplace movement came alongside broader geographic changes, with several eastern and southern states recording growth above the national rate.

West Bengal was among the strongest state-level movers, climbing from ninth place in 2025 to fifth in 2026. Its GMV rose 64.8 per cent to Rs 1.33 crore, marking the largest absolute increase among states.

Other markets also posted strong gains. Kerala grew 47.2 per cent, Andhra Pradesh 43.4 per cent, Bihar 38.2 per cent and Tamil Nadu 32.4 per cent year on year.

The figures suggest that the festive recovery is spreading beyond India’s largest consumption centres, with demand building across a wider mix of eastern and southern markets.

Delhi nevertheless remained the country’s leading sale city, generating Rs 1.85 crore in GMV, followed by Bengaluru and Mumbai. Its 27.7 per cent growth outpaced the overall market’s 17.6 per cent increase.

Ragini Varma, chief business officer, India, Fynd, said the next phase of retail growth would depend less on India’s biggest cities and more on how effectively brands serve a distributed consumer base.

“Tier 3 markets are no longer an emerging opportunity on the sidelines; they are becoming central to the growth story,” Varma said.

She added that retailers would need to anticipate demand at a local level, strengthen marketplace and fulfilment strategies, and deliver a consistent customer experience across markets.

The latest sale data points to a retail recovery that is becoming less metro-centric. Delhi may still have the crown, but the real momentum is increasingly coming from the smaller cities.