57% of e-commerce orders come from beyond India’s top 96 cities, but they generate just 39% of value

India’s e-commerce growth is spreading well beyond its biggest cities, but the value of that demand remains concentrated in a smaller set of markets, creating a new challenge for brands as they plan inventory, fulfilment and the upcoming festive season.

An analysis of more than 200 million orders processed through e-commerce platform EasyEcom over the 12 months to July 2026 shows that markets outside India’s 96 largest cities accounted for 57.2% of orders, but generated only 39.3% of total order value. Their average order value (AOV) was $8.66, less than half the $17.89 recorded across the 96 largest cities.

The gap becomes even sharper at the top end. The 96 largest cities contributed just 42.8% of orders but 60.7% of value, while the five largest cities accounted for 15.7% of orders and the top 10 for 22%.

“India’s commerce map has expanded much faster than its economics have converged,” said Punit Gupta, co-founder and CEO, EasyEcom. “For brands, getting more orders from more cities is only one part of the growth story.”

Volume and value are creating two different maps

The divergence is not limited to city tiers. Of India’s 15 largest commerce states in EasyEcom’s dataset, 13 change positions when ranked by order value instead of order volume. Maharashtra and Delhi are the only two that retain their rankings.

Haryana is the clearest example. It ranks 11th by order volume, with around 8.3 million transactions, but jumps eight places to become the third-largest state by order value. Its AOV of $39.71 is more than six times Bihar’s $6.36 and over three times the national blended average of $12.61. Activity in Gurugram and Sonipat contributes to Haryana’s higher-value transaction profile, the report said.

Bihar, meanwhile, falls from 10th by order volume to 15th by value despite processing more than 8.3 million orders. Across states, AOV varies 7.1 times, from $39.71 in Haryana to $5.60 in Tripura. The top three states by value generate 44.1% of total order value from just 26% of orders.

At a city-level picture, Bengaluru led by volume with around 11 million orders, 84% more than Mumbai. Gurugram, however, ranked seventh by orders with 2.8 million transactions but second by value at $192.9 million. Its AOV of $69.86 was more than four times Delhi’s $15.65.

This divergence could become particularly important during the festive season. EasyEcom processed 58.1 million orders between May and July 2026, already 20.5% above the 48.2 million orders recorded during September-November 2025. The report cautions that this is an observed run-rate comparison, not a festive sales forecast.

At the same time, 2025 data suggests festive demand is becoming a longer season rather than a single spike. September saw 16.60 million orders and October 16.67 million, before November fell to 14.93 million and December recovered to 16.45 million.

Brands will have to increasingly account for where an order originates, what it is worth and how much it costs to fulfil, particularly as e-commerce expands across a wider geographic footprint.