Gen Z Diwali shopping: friends decide, quick-commerce apps deliver, study finds
Representative image: bhuppigraphy / Pixabay
A Snapchat-GWI study of 1,008 young Indians, released 6 October 2026, finds 61% buy festive basics via quick commerce and most trust friends over influencers.
What Happened
Young Indians shopping for Diwali lean on friends and family more than on influencers, and buy their festive basics through quick-delivery apps, according to new category findings from a study commissioned by Snapchat and carried out by market research firm GWI, published on Tuesday, 6 October 2026. The research surveyed 1,008 Gen Z internet users in India. It found that 61 per cent mainly buy festive essentials for their family or household through quick commerce, that 71 per cent are buying or expect to buy a smartphone for Diwali, and that 68 per cent are buying or expect to buy clothes or other fashion products. The first part of the same study, released in August, found that 76 per cent of young people feel more confident about a purchase after quick feedback from people they trust.
Key Facts
- Sample: 1,008 Gen Z internet users in India, in a study by GWI for Snapchat.
- 61 per cent mainly buy festive essentials for the home through quick commerce; snacks and sweets (74 per cent) and puja items (65 per cent) top the list, followed by flowers and decorations (64 per cent), diyas and candles (61 per cent) and household essentials (59 per cent).
- 71 per cent are buying or expect to buy a smartphone for Diwali; 55 per cent plan most of their technology purchases in advance.
- Before buying technology, 50 per cent have researched products, 46 per cent have asked others for advice and 45 per cent have compared brands.
- 68 per cent are buying or expect to buy fashion; 46 per cent plan most fashion buys in advance and 49 per cent mix planning with spur-of-the-moment buys.
- Three in ten share beauty and personal care products with others before buying them.
- Seven in ten say creator content helps them discover products, but 76 per cent say feedback from trusted people gives them the confidence to buy.
Why It Matters
The findings describe a generation that discovers things online but decides offline, or at least in private chats. Creators and advertisements put products in front of young people, but the final yes often comes from a friend, a sibling or a parent. Snapchat's ad solutions lead for India, Yagnesh Ravi, described this as a shopping journey that now continues through conversations with the "inner circle" of trusted friends and family.
That is useful to know for anyone trying to spend wisely this festive season. Asking a trusted person before a big purchase is a sensible habit, and the study suggests most young people already do it for phones and gadgets. The weaker spot is impulse buying. Nearly half of young shoppers say their fashion purchases are a mix of plans and spur-of-the-moment decisions, and quick-commerce apps are designed to make small, fast purchases feel effortless.
The quick-commerce numbers also say something about how young people run their homes. Snacks, sweets, puja items, flowers and diyas are exactly the last-minute needs of a festival, and young people in the family are increasingly the ones ordering them on a phone for everyone else.
Readers should keep the source in mind. The study was commissioned by a social media company that sells advertising, and its findings are presented partly as guidance for brands. The sample of just over a thousand online users is useful as a snapshot, but it does not represent all young Indians, especially those who are not online or who shop mainly in local markets.
| Category | Key finding |
|---|---|
| Festive essentials | 61 per cent use quick commerce for the home |
| Technology | 71 per cent buying a smartphone; 55 per cent plan ahead |
| Fashion | 68 per cent buying; 46 per cent plan most buys |
| Beauty | 3 in 10 share products with others before buying |
Impact
Short-term: Expect heavy quick-commerce use for festival basics in the run-up to Diwali, and more brand campaigns built around sharing and group chats rather than celebrity endorsements.
Long-term: If peer advice keeps outweighing influencer content, young shoppers may become harder to sway with paid promotion alone, which could push brands towards referral and review-based marketing.
Who is affected: Gen Z shoppers and their families, quick-commerce and e-commerce platforms, smartphone and fashion brands, and content creators who rely on brand deals.
Key Takeaway
Young Indians find Diwali products through creators but buy them on the word of friends and family, according to a Snapchat-GWI study of 1,008 Gen Z users released on 6 October 2026.
Questions and Answers
What did the Snapchat-GWI study find about Gen Z's Diwali shopping?
That 61 per cent of the 1,008 young Indians surveyed mainly buy festive essentials through quick commerce, 71 per cent expect to buy a smartphone, 68 per cent expect to buy fashion, and 76 per cent feel more confident buying after feedback from people they trust.
Do influencers decide what young Indians buy?
Not mainly, according to the study. Seven in ten said creator content helps them discover products, but trusted friends and family were what gave most of them the confidence to make a purchase.
Which festive items do young people buy on quick-commerce apps?
Snacks and sweets lead at 74 per cent, followed by puja essentials at 65 per cent, flowers and decorations at 64 per cent, diyas and candles at 61 per cent and household essentials at 59 per cent.
How reliable is the study?
It is a commissioned survey of just over a thousand Gen Z internet users, run by GWI for Snapchat. It gives a useful snapshot of online young shoppers but does not represent all young Indians.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
Sourced and fact-checked by the Peepals Global Editorial Team
Reported, fact-checked and published by the Peepals Global Editorial Team.
