Pune: From eco-friendly idols, puja kits, flowers, sweets and even daily offerings, quick commerce players have curated a range of festival items for customers’ benefit for Ganeshotsav.“This year, the assortment saw a tremendous increase. The markets are so busy that we ordered everything online,” Baner resident Arun Kulkarni said.Gold and silver coins, festive gifting, and even ethnic wear are available on quick commerce. “We visit many of our relatives who get Ganapati idols during the festival, so we decided to buy sweets and gifts online this year,” Kharadi resident Rashmi Ahuja said.A spokesperson for a grocery delivery app said that modak has surged on the platform. “This Ganeshotsav, we expanded the assortments to be available to users in 10 minutes. Our expanded selection includes items like flowers, diyas, eco-friendly Ganapati idols and puja essentials. We have over 25 types of modak, from kaju to chocolate modak. In keeping with the local preference and tradition, we have tied up with Dagduseth Ganapati temple to home-deliver modak prasad in Mumbai and Pune,” the spokesperson added.Another online grocery story saw sales of core festival items double. Last year, Ganapati idols contributed 70-80% of the festival-related sales, but this year the company increased the items. “We are seeing good sales of all types of puja items, lighting, diyas, and backdrops. We have listed mostly eco-friendly, immersible idols on the platform,” Seshu Kumar Tirumala, chief buying and merchandising officer at Big Basket said. They have more orders coming from Bengaluru and Hyderabad, followed by Mumbai and Pune.Other quick commerce companies said the average festival-related purchase value by customers is in the range of Rs 500-600. Demand from tier 2 cities also continues to do well during this festive period. Ready-to-make foods, snacking and packaged mithai makers are seeing a ramp-up in quick commerce orders. “It is so convenient to just log in to the app and place an order for savouries and sweets if guests are coming over. We don’t plan to stock up on cold drinks and juices in advance because we know that delivery will be in ten minutes or so,” Kunal Dahiya, a resident of Pashan, said.
