Discounted Devotion? Janmashtami Offer Mapping Across Quick Commerce Platforms

Introduction – Faith Meets Festive Discounts

Janmashtami, the celebration of Lord Krishna’s birth, is one of the most widely observed Hindu festivals in India. Traditionally, families prepare for the day by arranging puja essentials—ghee for the aarti, camphor for the rituals, flowers for decoration, and a variety of sweets for prasadam.

Over the last five years, quick commerce platforms like Zepto, Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Amazon Fresh have transformed how these essentials are purchased. What used to be a trip to the local market is now a quick scroll through an app — with delivery times as low as 10–15 minutes in major metros.

This convenience, paired with competitive festive discounts, has created an entirely new battlefield for brands and retailers. Instead of competing solely on product quality, they now compete on banner visibility, offer depth, and delivery speed.

In this Actowiz Solutions case study, we dive deep into Janmashtami offer mapping for both traditional puja items and sweets to see which platforms offered the best deals, how discount strategies varied, and what insights brands can take forward for upcoming festive campaigns.

Research Objective

Our Janmashtami quick commerce scraping initiative set out to answer:

• Which platforms offered the best prices on puja essentials and sweets?
• How did discount percentages and offer types vary?
• Were bundles and combos more effective than flat discounts?
• How did platform-specific strategies impact consumer buying behaviour?
• What actionable takeaways can FMCG brands derive from festive promotions data extraction?

Platforms & Categories Analyzed

Platforms Monitored:

• Zepto – Strong metro presence, fast delivery promise.
• Blinkit – High category visibility and banner marketing.
• Swiggy Instamart – Known for aggressive flash deals.
• Amazon Fresh – Wide assortment and regional reach.

Categories Tracked:

• Puja Essentials: Ghee, camphor, agarbatti (incense sticks), diya lamps, puja thali sets, kumkum, flowers.
• Sweets/Mithai: Laddu, peda, barfi, gulab jamun, rasgulla, kaju katli, assorted gift packs.

Data Collection Methodology

Actowiz Solutions leveraged its quick commerce promotion tracking and scraping capabilities to collect:

• Product Name & Brand
• MRP vs. Selling Price
• Discount Percentage
• Offer Type (Flat discount, BOGO, bundle, cashback, free delivery)
• Stock Status
• Listing Placement (Homepage, festive category, mid-category)
• Delivery ETA

Scraping Frequency:

• Hourly on Janmashtami day to capture price volatility.
• Daily for 3 days before and 2 days after to track pre- and post-event pricing.

Technical Workflow:

• 1. DOM-based scraping for structured product listings.
• 2. OCR-based banner text extraction to capture promo messages.
• 3. Geo-tagged data collection to analyze city-level variations.
• 4. Automated data pipelines for instant dashboard reporting.

Sample Data – Puja Essentials (Janmashtami Day)

Sample Data – Sweets (Janmashtami Day)

Key Findings – Janmashtami Promotions Analysis

Puja Essentials – Consistency Over Aggression

• Zepto maintained competitive pricing on staples like ghee and incense sticks, averaging 9% lower than competitors.
• Blinkit leaned on banner promotions for higher engagement in the puja category.
• Instamart stood out with higher discounts on decorative items like diyas and thalis.

Sweets – Aggressive Flash Discounts

• Instamart rotated mithai prices up to 3 times in a day, creating urgency.
• Zepto offered combo packs for family orders, adding free delivery.
• Amazon Fresh capitalized on bulk orders with flat ₹100 off gift hampers.

Discount Depth Impact

• Products with discounts above 15% saw up to 1.9× higher sales.
• BOGO and bundle offers outperformed single-SKU discounts in sweets.

Platform-Wise Offer Strategies

Zepto

• Bank cashback stacking boosted final savings.
• Heavy focus on dairy products for the fasting audience.

Blinkit

• Category-specific banners for puja essentials drove traffic.
• Mithai promotions tied to same-day delivery promises.

Swiggy Instamart

• Leader in dynamic flash pricing during peak hours.
• Leveraged bundles for sweets and puja combos.

Amazon Fresh

• Large assortment with moderate discounts.
• Cross-category promotions for higher basket sizes.

Consumer Behaviour Insights

• Peak shopping windows 10 AM–2 PM and 7 PM–10 PM.
• Impulse purchases from homepage banners accounted for 26% of orders.
• Tier-2 cities showed stronger uptake for puja essentials than Tier-1 in percentage growth.

Strategic Recommendations

For Brands:

• Use real-time SKU tracking to dynamically adjust discounts.
• Invest in festive category sponsorships for visibility.
• Bundle high-demand items to increase basket value.

For Platforms:

• Offer countdown timers for flash deals.
• Customize discounts by city using geo-tagged data extraction.
• Leverage cross-category festive bundles.

How Actowiz Solutions Powers Offer Mapping

Actowiz Solutions enables brands to:

• Scrape real-time pricing across platforms during festivals.
• Perform festive promotions data extraction for both banners and SKU listings.
• Compare platform competitiveness instantly with automated dashboards.
• Use historical data for year-on-year festive strategy improvements.

Conclusion – Devotion Meets Data

Janmashtami 2025 proved that while faith drives the purchase, discounts influence the platform choice. Platforms that offered competitive prices, visible festive banners, and fast delivery won the consumer’s cart.

With Actowiz Solutions, brands and retailers can transform festive campaigns from guesswork to data-driven precision, ensuring the right product, at the right price, is visible at the right time.