Ten-year-old Reyansh Sachdev doesn’t have a sibling. So his parents, television scriptwriter Surbhi Sachdev and media research expert Rahul Sachdev, found another way for him to celebrate Raksha Bandhan: by tying a rakhi to Chikki, the family’s four-year-old Shih Tzu.The Sachdevs are part of a broader shift retailers are beginning to monetise. The thread remains at the centre of a festival expected to generate ₹30,000-32,000 crore of trade nationally, but bakers, florists, jewellers, pet-care brands, gifting platforms and quick-commerce companies are fighting for the ₹5,000-7,000 crore spent on everything that goes into the basket around it.The rakhi itself accounts for an estimated ₹25,000 crore, according to the Confederation of All India Traders. Hospitality and retail expert Sheldon Santwan sees the change as Raksha Bandhan’s evolution from a largely single-product festival into a broader consumption occasion, with spending spreading into categories traditionally associated with other celebrations.Pets join the Rakhi familyOnline marketplaces and specialist pet-care brands are selling pet-friendly rakhis, bandanas, treats and gift boxes for dogs and cats, tapping rising spending on pets and their growing inclusion in family celebrations.Santwan says the significance lies less in the size of the category today than in retailers creating a purchase occasion that previously had little connection with Raksha Bandhan.When Rakhi gets a birthday cakeCakes are making a much bigger crossover. Searches for cake shops surged 38 per cent in Chandigarh and 20 per cent in Delhi, while Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune recorded increases of 9-12 per cent, according to Justdial.Bakingo is selling Rakhi photo cakes from about ₹739, Ferns N Petals is pairing cakes with rakhis, Theobroma has a ₹715 Raksha Bandhan Special Eggless Dutch Truffle Cake, while Magnolia Bakery has introduced limited-edition Rakhi cupcakes. Cake-cutting effectively imports the birthday ritual into Raksha Bandhan, giving bakeries another festival sales occasion.Delhi says it with flowersFlowers are making a similar crossover. Gifting platforms are bundling bouquets with rakhis, chocolates, cakes and personalised messages, bringing a product more commonly associated with Valentine’s Day, birthdays and anniversaries into Raksha Bandhan.The ₹10 thread gets a makeoverEven the thread is being premiumised. The basic ₹10 rakhi increasingly shares shelves with silver, gemstone, designer and personalised versions commanding multiples of mass-market prices.Children’s rakhis feature superheroes and cartoon characters, while personalised versions carry names and photographs, pushing a low-ticket ceremonial purchase towards jewellery and gifting.The battle for the basketQuick commerce is widening the opportunity further by allowing consumers to add sweets, cakes, flowers, rakhis and gifts at the last minute. Swiggy recorded a 32.4 per cent increase in festival food orders during Raksha Bandhan, while non-metro orders grew 38.1 per cent, suggesting the spread is beyond India’s metro cities.For retailers, Santwan says, the opportunity isn’t to replace the rakhi or mithai but to add purchases around them. A cake, bouquet, personalised gift or pet product may be incremental individually, but together they create a sizeable festive market, turning a single ceremonial purchase into a broader festive basket.Published on August 28, 2026