What works offline works in the virtual world, too. The festive frenzy has gripped e-commerce players who are doling out freebies and organising online shopping festivals replete with discounts, cashback guarantees and grand prizes to entice netizens to buy on the Internet.
The strategy seems to be paying off as almost all the online retailers Business Line spoke with report a spike in sales. According to Mr Ankur Dinesh, CEO and Founder of Wirefoot, a research provider for online clients, “As per our analysis Diwali would contribute up to 20 per cent of sales for some of the categories like gifts, electronics.”
Myntra.com, which repositioned itself as an online lifestyle retailer earlier this year, confirms this. On its first Diwali as a retailer it reports a 20 per cent increase in the number of transactions and about 25 per cent jump in revenues. It expects another spurt in December for Christmas.
Ms Ashni Biyani, Director, Holii, says holii.in is seeing as much as 40 per cent spike in sales during this festival season. “We sell women's accessories. At this time there's a preference for our brocades since women are in the festive mood, and the reds, greens and golds are moving,” she says.
Lifestyle categories such as clothes and gold coins are selling like hot cakes on eBay, indicating that women shoppers are getting more active online, while Flipkart has noticed that sales once transacted mostly during office hours, are now being made later in the day, pointing to a joint family decision.
Ms Deepa Thomas, Head (Pop Culture), eBay India, said the lifestyle category was seeing a big push. “Saris and salwar kameez , home décor, diamond jewellery and hallmarked gold coins, personal and skin care items, and yoga mats are getting a lot of play,” she said. Big-ticket items such as flat panel TVs, digicams, and tablets are also being sold in large numbers.
Mr Sanjay Ramakrishnan, Senior VP (Marketing), Myntra.com, says there's been “a good uptake in the last two weeks of formal wear and ethnic womenswear” including saris and salwar kameez.
On Flipkart, which only recently added gadgets to its stocks mobile, camera and laptop categories are seeing a lot of traction. Even the deals sites have been hyperactive this season. mydala.com, group buying/social commerce portal offering city-specific deep-discount deals, has been offering exclusive Diwali deals. “Retailers are building all sorts of discounts from simply 10-40 per cent off to combo offers, free gifts, free shipping, buy and get free deals. Giving festival delight for making a consumer buy more has been an effective strategy offline,” sums up Wirefoot's Mr Ankur Dinesh.
(With reports from Chitra Narayanan)