New Year’s Eve 2025 outperformed Christmas as India’s on-demand economy’s biggest monetisation day

New Year’s Eve emerged as the most commercially significant day of 2025 for India’s on-demand platforms, outperforming Christmas not just in scale but in the quality of demand across food delivery and quick commerce, according to year-end platform data.

In food delivery, December 31 proved to be the category’s strongest monetisation moment of the year. Order volumes across the two-player market rose to roughly 1.6 times business-as-usual levels, but the value uplift was even sharper. Gross order value expanded to nearly 1.9 times normal levels, with year-on-year value growth significantly outpacing order growth, an indicator of higher spend per transaction rather than pure volume expansion.

The spike was driven by a marked shift in consumer behaviour. Average order values rose materially as customers placed group orders and opted for premium menu items, curated bundles, desserts, and beverages. This willingness to trade up differentiated New Year’s Eve from other festive occasions, including Christmas, where growth remained largely aligned with broader consumption trends and was driven more by volume than by premiumisation.

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Quick commerce platforms saw a parallel, though behaviourally distinct, pattern. On New Year’s Eve, order volumes scaled to around 1.4–1.5 times normal levels, while basket sizes also expanded, pushing overall gross merchandise value to about 1.6 times business-as-usual benchmarks. Unlike Christmas, when growth was driven mainly by higher order frequency, New Year’s Eve saw consumers placing larger, occasion-focused orders.

Platforms leaned into this shift by highlighting party-ready assortments, including snacks, beverages, mixers, and celebration essentials. Curated collections, festive landing pages, and basket-based offers encouraged customers to consolidate purchases into fewer but higher-value orders. Premium beverages and imported snacks recorded particularly strong demand, reinforcing the basket expansion seen on the day.

The contrasting performance of Christmas and New Year’s Eve points to a two-phase festive consumption pattern in India’s on-demand economy. Christmas continues to reinforce habitual usage, characterised by predictable, volume-led demand and utility-driven purchases. New Year’s Eve, by contrast, has evolved into a high-intent, experience-driven event where consumers display lower price sensitivity and higher willingness to spend.

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For food delivery platforms, this cements New Year’s Eve as the most accretive day of the year from a monetisation standpoint. For quick commerce, the data suggests a broader transition, from a last-minute convenience channel to a key enabler of celebration-led consumption, blending scale with meaningful value creation.