Online Diwali sales to zoom

Online shopping has come of age. Due to dearth of time and tedious ways of traditional shopping, customers are increasingly seeking the convenience of shopping from their home.

And this Diwali the online marketeers are busy wooing the 37 million strong Indian net users with festival packages and Maha Diwali sales.

According to a report by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI), this Diwali the online sales are expected to go up by more than 100 per cent.

In 2006, online business conducted during Diwali was around Rs 115 crore which is expected to cross the Rs 250 crore mark this year, according to the report.

Even the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) in its press release said e-shopping is a preferred mode this Diwali as it has already registered a growth of 40 per cent and is expected to register a growth of 130 per cent.

As per Assocham, more than 30 lakh consumers in order to avoid security threats and physical movement will be using internet for e-shopping.

Items which are most sought after during Diwali shopping include gift articles, idols of Gods and Goddesses, sweets, flowers, clothes and jewellery and diamonds.

A big chunk of online shoppers comprise corporate houses and their employees. Corporates are to spend Rs 2,000 crore on Diwali gifts, an increase of 48 per cent as compared to Rs 1,350 crore last year, according to industry body Assocham.

Customised gifts are another trend with IT and BPO companies. T-shirts, sweatshirts, pens and other items with company logos are quite popular among them.

“Electronic items are the first choice among most corporates. Mobiles, iPods, digicams, pen drives, storage devices, desktop utilities are the most sought after gifts this season,” said Ranjith Boyanpalli, Head e-Tail, eYantra Industries.

A flow of portals are selling services like online prayers and offerings blessed by the priest. Primarily aimed at NRIs, DVDs of prayers and offerings blessed by the priest or idols, incense sticks, religious books are a big hit.

This Diwali the gifts have moved from low value to high-value products with the appreciation of rupee and so the profit margins of companies. While conventional gifts are out, sophisticated and innovative gifts are in this Diwali.

- Article appeared in Business Standard