Valentine's week: E-com giants record high demand for roses, chocolates

Leading up to Valentine’s Day on February 14, quick-commerce platforms like Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart have witnessed a phenomenal uptick in the sales of products related to the occasion, such as roses and chocolates.

Meanwhile, e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart have gone live with their respective Valentine’s Day sale events, offering generous discounts on products.

Sales of chocolates and roses on Zomato-owned Blinkit shattered previous records at the beginning of this year’s Valentine’s Day week, on February 7, which is celebrated as Rose Day.

Blinkit chief executive officer (CEO) Albinder Dhindsa took to the social media platform X to share that by 11 am on Rose Day, Blinkit had already surpassed its total rose and chocolate sales for the entire day in 2023.

These figures were breached twice more later in the day, he revealed in posts.

“The peak is here and currently running at 406 CPM (Chocolates Per Minute)! More than 20K chocolates and chocolate boxes are on the way and will be delivered in the next 10 minutes,” he wrote in a post.

As many as 20 per cent of orders placed on the platform were intended for someone else, Dhindsa said.

The company’s Bengaluru-based rival, Swiggy Instamart, also experienced a similar uptick.

At its peak, the platform saw as many as 251 roses ordered per minute.

Notably, a customer from Gurugram ordered 47 roses in a single order.

“Roses have been flying off the shelves since early this morning.

"But keep ordering! After crossing the million roses mark last year, Swiggy Instamart has stocked up on 1.5 million fresh roses and is geared up to spread love this Rose Day and throughout Valentine’s week!” said Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy, in a post on X.

This increased demand is expected to continue until the end of Valentine’s Week on February 14.

Last year, Swiggy sold over 1 million roses during Valentine’s week.

Live until February 14, Amazon’s specially curated Valentine’s Day Store provides a variety of offers on products across categories from brands like Vero Moda, GIVA, Cadbury, FlowerAura, OnePlus, Sony, boAt, Fossil, and more.

From chocolates to flowers, grooming essentials, handbags, watches, apparel, smartphones, televisions, footwear, and videogames, products are available at discounts of up to 70 per cent.

Flipkart, on the other hand, has kicked off its Valentine’s Week special sale on gadgets.

Dubbed Mobile Bonanza, the sale offers generous discounts on popular smartphones, including the iPhone 15.

The recently launched Apple iPhone 15 is available for purchase starting from Rs 63,999, significantly reducing its price from the launch price of Rs 79,900.

The Flipkart Sale is live from February 9 to February 15.