According to a report by Redseer Strategy Consultants, India's online commerce market is projected to reach over $90 billion in 2026, demonstrating an annual growth rate of 22–24%. This growth rate is the fastest in the last five years and is driven by daily consumption categories such as food, rather than mobile phones.
The analysis showed that the Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of e-commerce increased by approximately 25% year-on-year, reaching about $38 billion in the first half of 2026. This marked the strongest performance for the first half in four years.
Despite the acceleration in online retail, mobile device sales remained flat, showing zero growth in the first half. It is projected that the growth for the entire year will be only 2–3% due to sharp price increases curbing sales volume.
Consequently, the food segment is poised to overtake mobile phones, becoming the second-largest category in Indian e-commerce, trailing only fashion.
Kushal Bhatnagar, a partner at Redseer, noted that the fastest online commerce growth in India this year is observed where demand remains most stable.
The report also highlighted that in 2026, Food, Beauty and Personal Care (BPC), as well as Home Goods and Furniture will account for about 40% of the total online commerce GMV and roughly three-fifths of the annual GMV increase.
Only the food segment is predicted to contribute nearly a third of the GMV increase, growing by 50–53% over the full year. This will allow it to increase its market share from 16% in 2025 to 19% in 2026. Mobile devices, which accounted for about 19% of total sales last year, are expected to see their share drop to approximately 16%.
It is forecasted that BPC will grow by 36–39%, and the Home Goods and Furniture segment will increase by 31–34% in 2026.
In contrast, electronics showed a recovery of 22% in the first half of 2026 after falling by 5% in the same period of 2025. Redseer attributes this surge to several factors: increased demand that was 'pre-loaded' due to the reduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on major home appliances from 28% to 18% in September 2025; significant discounts on air conditioners due to changes in Bureau of Energy Efficiency star ratings; a shortage of liquefied gas, which caused an increase in induction cooktop sales by 200–300%; and early purchases of laptops ahead of anticipated component price hikes.