Mumbai: As India enters the heart of its festive season, artificial intelligence has emerged as consumers’ new companion, with AI platform-related searches surging to 654 Million+ in pre-festive 2025 — a 2.6x jump from last year. From curating the perfect festive look to making purchase decisions, Indians are increasingly turning to AI tools for every aspect of celebration. This transformative shift forms the core theme of GRWAi (Get Ready with AI), the latest festive report presented by GIPSI, the HI+AI research and insights division of Tonic Worldwide.
Positioned as a Festive Booster Camp for brands and marketers, the comprehensive study reveals critical AI undercurrents shaping festive behaviour in 2025, signaling a fundamental shift in how Indians prepare for and celebrate festivals. With festive e-commerce GMV projected at ₹1.15 Lakh Crore following the GST Bachat Utsav coinciding with peak festive season, the findings offer consumer brands valuable guidance to sharpen their marketing strategies and capitalize on unprecedented consumer spending momentum.
Key Highlights from the GIPSI Festive Report 2025 – ‘This Festive Season GRWAi’
Why Get Ready With AI?
- Moodboarding becomes mood setting: Prep has become the main course, extending beyond fashion into gifting, décor, food, and selfie booths. Pinterest alone saw 6K+ searches for “Pooja Invitation Card Backgrounds.”
- The GST Bachat Utsav Rush: Tax savings are blending with traditional discounting to become the new festive anchor.
How to GRWAi?
- GRWAi Assistant — AI Slips Into Search: From shopping lists to recipes, consumers are outsourcing parts of their festive prep to smart AI search. AI Overviews are the new “front page” of search. Implication for brands: SEO is passé; SOM (Share of Model) is the KPI to watch this festive season.
- GRWAi Commerce — AI Turns Hoppers Into Shoppers: AI usage in e-commerce is driving conversions by recovering abandoned carts, nudging hesitant buyers, and offering personalized recommendations.
* 10 Million+ Amazon India users tried Rufus, Amazon’s AI shopping assistant.
* Myntra’s AI assistant Maya makes users 3x more likely to purchase and discover 16% more categories.
* 2000+ showed interest in ‘Pujo Parikrama walks’ and 43.7K+ in ‘Navratri events’ on Facebook Events.
* Implication: Is your bot army ready to close the deal? Can AI predict and enhance festive experiences?
- AI Content — Prompts Are the New Filters: AI prompts are redefining how consumers create and flaunt content on social media.
* 2.7 Million+ views on Top 10 YouTube Shorts for “Gemini AI Photo Editing Garba/Dandiya” in 2025.
* 1.6 Million+ searches for “AI Prompts” in pre-festive 2025 — a 7.5x surge from last year.
* Implication: Brands must level up their content game for the prompt-crazy audience.
Caution: HI-Proof Your AI!
The report also notes a growing scrutiny over authenticity. As AI becomes mainstream, brands must balance automation with human intelligence. Recently, Rado’s ad was called out for stitching actors together using AI. GIPSI urges brands to ensure human intervention to maintain trust and emotional connect.
Commenting on the GRWAi report, Anjali Malthankar, Global Strategy Director and GIPSI Co-Head, Tonic Worldwide, said, “This festive season GRWAi is not just a report but a CTA as we enter the second half of the season. AI is not just a marketer’s tool, there are clear signals of consumers experimenting, engaging with and flaunting AI. Some of this behaviour is intentional and some has slipped into their behaviour without them realizing it. I strongly feel as far as AI is concerned, predictive, generative or both, brands can ignore AI but can’t escape it. Because either you are lacking, leveling or leading with AI. There is no ’fighting’ it. While I say this, I don’t think the role of HI (Human intelligence) will be undermined. In fact in our report, we caution brands to HI proof the use of AI.”
The GRWAi report employs GIPSI’s unique HI+AI methodology, triangulating multiple data points through deep listening across digital platforms and primary validation via the GIPSI App. The study covers data from pre-festive 2024 through pre-festive 2025 (September 2024 – September 2025).
