From festive shopping to home makeovers: India gears up for Diwali
Diwali, the festival of lights, is India’s biggest and most significant event of the year. Celebrated with a lot of gusto and gifts, the five-day Diwali festival heralds prosperity and happiness. It’s common practice for people to buy gold and silver, furniture and utensils for their home, and paint and decorate them. The online majors are weaning Diwali shoppers away from the familiar, bustling marketplace. To announce its biggest festival sale, the ‘Great Indian Festival’ from October 10-15, Amazon India showcased a first-of-its-kind ‘Amazon Festive Home’ in New Delhi
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Cities like Mumbai, seen here, are a glittering sight during Diwali, with buildings and houses strewn with coloured lights for the festival.
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Lately, lanterns and fairy lights, mostly imports from China have seen enthusiastic buyers, keen on their variety, design innovation, and affordable prices.
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The earthen lamps, as old as the festival itself, is a massive cottage industry in India. Here, a potter colours the earthen lamps before despatching them to the local market in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa.
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A stockbroker, with his family gathered around him, trades during a special "mahurat" trading session, on the occasion of Diwali, at the BSE in Mumbai. The annual ceremonial session is held on Diwali every year, to mark the beginning of the Hindu Samvat Year 2074.
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Indian businessmen pray in front of their record-keeping books as a part of a ritual, called "Choopda poojan", which literally means worshiping the (account) books. The relevance is to worship the Hindu deity of wealth, Lakshmi, on Diwali. The ritual marks the beginning of the new trading year for the Gujarati community.
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The shopping malls in Indian metros have a challenge ahead of them, as the heavy discounting by online retailers will be a major draw for the Diwali shoppers who look to buy new clothes and gifts for the occasion.
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Swedish furniture and furnishing giant IKEA’s presence, with their first store opening in Hyderabad and many more planned in major cities, have raised a competitive anticipation among the e-tailers.
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Amazon India showcased a first-of-its-kind ‘Amazon Festive Home’ in New Delhi. The entire apartment space, over two floors, displays ideas for a home makeover, with every product displayed available for sale on Amazon India.
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It’s a shopping tour for a homemaker - From quirky wallpaper to garden accessories, from chic home décor to geeky gadgets, latest smartphones and Alexa-controlled smart lighting, TV and appliances; from traditional handlooms to modern murals; from home appliances to recliners; from apparel to luxury beauty products.
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Interior designers Amber Singh Tikari and Preeti Subhash, have given each room a theme-based décor. While the Family Lounge has a contemporary Indo-Western look, the ethnic and artsy Drawing Room decorated with original Tanjore paintings reflects Indian tradition and culture. And for those who love nature, the home showcases a pretty little garden furnished with live plants, fresh flowers, garden accessories, garden furniture all bought from Amazon India online.
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Along with the Festive Home, Amazon India has also launched three new Echo devices. The Echo transforms the Amazon Festive Home into a smart home with Alexa controlling the lights, TVs, AC, doors and more. In addition, Amazon Devices also showcased Alexa controlled IR remote to control the TV with voice. A host of third-party, Alexa-enabled devices including Harman Kardon Allure, Jabra Elite 65T, Motorola Verve and Eufy Genie among others were also showcased in the Home.
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The sales hosted during the festive period by online majors Amazon India and Flipkart generate a majority of their annual sales. For the first time this year, Amazon India's Great India Festival and Flipkart’s Big Billion Days Sale will kick off on the same date. The two rivals alone are slated to capture nearly 85 percent of all festive season sales in India, which are estimated to touch between $2.5 billion and $3 billion this year, according to research firm RedSeer Consulting.
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Amazon gets around 65 percent of its orders from Tier 2 and smaller cities in India. Earlier this month, the company also launched a Hindi version of its mobile app to deepen its presence in the smaller towns.
