Festive fortunes: Why D2C, QComm are placing bets on astrology

From midnight store runs to one-click festive carts, Indian shopping habits are being rewritten. What once meant last-minute dashes for clothes, sweets, or a pooja thali has now shifted online, with D2C platforms enabling planned and personalised purchases.

A recent report by e-commerce enabler GoKwik shows that while fashion and beauty continue to dominate festive baskets, the real surprise this season is astrology and spiritual services going mainstream.

Once confined to temples or local priests, offerings like pooja kits, yantras, vastu consultations, and AI-driven horoscopes are now driving average spends of ₹5,000 per order — putting spirituality shoulder to shoulder with lifestyle categories.

GoKwik, in its early festive report, noted a 16% year-on-year increase in order volumes for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands on its platform during the pre-festive period. Fashion and apparel led sales with 31% of total volumes, followed by beauty and personal care at 22%, and health and wellness at 14%. Astrology stood out with the highest average order value at ₹5,042 per purchase.

“The early-festive period is proving to be a litmus test for D2C resilience. Brands that prepared with better address hygiene and proactive customer engagement have seen improved delivery outcomes,” said Chirag Taneja, co-founder and CEO of GoKwik.

But is this just a seasonal spike, or a more sustained trend?

Taneja clarified that astrology has seen consistently high AOV over the last six months, not just a festive blip. “It has been performing consistently well and ranks among the top three categories with the highest AOV. In the pre-festive season, it rose to the top,” he said. On the consumer profile, he explained that most purchases are coming from repeat customers rather than first-time online shoppers.

Agreeing with this trend, Giresh Vasudev Kulkarni, Founder of Temple Connect and ITCX, said D2C brands are seeing astrology and spiritual services emerge as an unexpected big-ticket category. “Independent platforms like the Indian Puja Company, along with marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart, are catering to customised festive and devotional needs. Temple tourism has multiplied, visits to temples and corporate gifting have gone up, and as we explore more regional temples and spiritual practices, demand has grown significantly,” he added.

Spirituality goes mainstream on digital festive carts

Convenience, professionalisation, and social media awareness are reshaping how Indians engage with spirituality. What was once an add-on ritual is now positioned as a problem-solving service for careers, relationships, and finances, experts pointed out.

According to Meena Kapoor, CEO & Founder of Astroyogi, festive seasonality has become a clear growth driver, with transactions rising 2–3X as spirituality moves from niche to mainstream in festive carts. She added that festive demand dominates the category, with sales spiking sharply around key occasions. “During Rakhi, our MRR was 3X compared to previous months. Around 35–40% of our annual spend is concentrated in the festive season, where we leverage all possible channels for visibility,” she said.

Prashant Sachan, founder and CEO of Sri Mandir and AppsForBharat, stated,“The Hindu calendar has key tithis year-round, and we see reliable demand spikes for spiritual services and products at each of these moments. Social content peaks on these dates, driving awareness and education, which then converts into festival-centred transactions.”

As per Sachan, offline pujas typically range from ₹8,000 to ₹51,000, while digital-first platforms have opened access with online pujas starting at ~₹850 and scaling up to ₹3,000–₹4,000, depending on participants and add-ons. This accessibility has accelerated adoption. Sri Mandir, now sees over one lakh monthly transactors for its online puja and chadhava services, with app downloads crossing 4 crore. “Spirituality has gone mainstream across cohorts. The shift is broad-based across Tier-1 and Tier-2+ cities, spanning the 25–60+ age groups,” Sachan noted, adding that monthly transactions are up more than 4X year-on-year.

As per Sachan, India’s digital spirituality market today at $1–1.5 billion across astrology consults, online puja/chadhava, donations, and spiritual commerce, which is expected to scale to over $3 billion within next years powered by a strong demand-supply flywheel.

As per IMARC, the country’s overall religious and spiritual market is projected to reach $135.1 billion by 2033.

One of the key reasons why spirituality has gone mainstream is the clear rise in spiritual practices among younger generations, who are increasingly seeking products that enhance mindfulness and wellness, according to Arjun Ranga, Managing Director of Cycle Pure Agarbathi. He added that there is also a revival in participation in pujas, homas, and religious tourism.

“Reflecting this movement, we launched astropuja.com, which integrates astrology services with guided pujas to make ritualistic practices more accessible digitally,” he added.

The Festive Ad Spend Playbook

According to Giresh Vasudev Kulkarni, Founder of Temple Connect and ITCX, consumer demand has shifted over the past 2–3 years. While earlier it was largely D2C-driven, quick commerce has now taken a higher leap. He added that spiritual commerce, too, is increasingly shaping festive ad strategies.

Kulkarni said spends can range from ₹1 lakh per campaign to as high as ₹40–50 lakh (even ₹1 crore) for large-scale festivals like Onam, Diwali, or Navratri, with this year’s spends expected to rise by 12–15%.

Adding to this, Kapoor noted that Astroyogi allocates 35–40% of its annual ad budget during the festive period, tapping digital, OTT, influencers, and vernacular platforms.

As per Ranga, ad spends have increased sharply compared to 2024, with digital now accounting for a much larger share of the budget. Over the past two years, the company has raised digital’s contribution to 25%. Around 30% of its annual ad budget is set aside for the festive season, with priority on print, along with TV, digital, influencers, and quick commerce apps.

As India’s festive economy expands, spirituality is no longer confined to temples or tradition — it is being reimagined as a digital-first, consumer-driven category. From pooja kits on quick commerce apps to AI-driven horoscopes, the lines between lifestyle and spirituality are blurring. What was once a seasonal ritual is now evolving into a sustained, mainstream trend, signalling that faith and commerce are set to walk hand in hand in the country’s digital future.