AI Drives Revenue, Bigger Baskets and Faster Growth in India’s Summer Sale Season: Unicommerce
Brands recover ₹1.3 crore through AI-powered customer engagement as consumer spending and quick commerce surge during 2026 sales season
According to Unicommerce, the convergence of AI-led customer engagement, premiumisation and operational excellence is defining the next stage of e-commerce growth.
New Delhi: India’s summer sale season has revealed a new phase of e-commerce growth, where artificial intelligence is moving beyond customer support to become a powerful revenue-generation engine, according to a new analysis by Unicommerce. The study highlights how AI-powered engagement, rising consumer spending and operational efficiency are reshaping the country’s digital commerce landscape.
Drawing insights from transactions and customer engagement data across major sale events, including Amazon’s Great Summer Sale, Flipkart’s Sasa Lele and Big Bachat Days, Myntra’s End of Reason Sale and multiple D2C campaigns, Unicommerce found that AI-driven interventions delivered measurable commercial outcomes throughout the season.
One of the most significant findings was the growing role of AI in customer engagement and revenue recovery. Brands using Catalyst, the AI-powered voice agent from Convertway, reached more than 1.15 lakh shoppers through abandoned cart recovery, cash-on-delivery confirmations, address verification and engagement campaigns. These AI-driven interactions helped recover orders worth over ₹1.3 crore, generating a return on investment of more than 15 times.
The report also highlighted the growing use of AI to improve fulfilment efficiency. Nearly 1,000 AI-enabled automated messaging campaigns reached over 34 lakh consumers during the sale season, helping brands reduce cancellations, improve customer communication and enhance delivery success rates.
Consumer spending showed notable strength across categories. Data from Unicommerce’s Uniware platform revealed that average order values increased by more than 25 percent in Home Decor and Furnishings and over 16 percent in FMCG, indicating stronger demand for both premium and everyday products.
Despite the delayed start of the first major sale compared with last year, consumer demand remained resilient. Weekly comparisons showed order volumes growing by 29 percent in the opening week, peaking at 41 percent in the second week and continuing to register double-digit growth throughout the extended sale period.
Quick commerce continued its rapid rise, recording more than 60 percent year-on-year growth in order volumes. Nutraceuticals and Supplements, along with Home Decor and Furnishings, accounted for the largest share of quick commerce orders, while Beauty and Personal Care emerged as the fastest-growing category, followed by Health and Pharma and Fashion and Accessories.
Operational efficiency also improved significantly. Analysis from Shipway, Unicommerce’s logistics platform, found that brands reduced return-to-origin (RTO) rates to 17 percent during the summer sale period, down from around 25 percent during the corresponding period last year. The improvement reflects increased focus on order validation, delivery optimisation and customer communication.
Among Indian regions, Mizoram, Chandigarh, Puducherry, Goa and Kerala recorded the lowest RTO rates, indicating stronger delivery outcomes and lower return incidence.
According to Unicommerce, the convergence of AI-led customer engagement, premiumisation and operational excellence is defining the next stage of e-commerce growth. As the industry prepares for upcoming shopping events, including Amazon Prime Day, these trends are expected to play an increasingly important role in driving performance and profitability.
Founded in 2012, Unicommerce is an AI-first e-commerce enablement SaaS platform serving more than 8,000 clients across India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East through solutions spanning customer engagement, order management and logistics automation.
