How small businesses can increase sales during Diwali
Diwali is the most prominent Indian festival, celebrated with zeal and excitement. With India progressing in digitization, eCommerce has redefined Diwali shopping for Indian customers. In this article, we will discuss key strategies that small businesses can use to increase sales during this festive season.
As brands save their best offers for this festival, customers wait throughout the year to purchase big-ticket items during Diwali. Diwali is a festival of gifts, sweets and shopping. The tradition of gifting is not limited to friends and family; corporate gifting is another popular tradition.
Editor’s note: Don’t have a business website yet? Put your business online in less than 5 minutes with Online Starter Bundle.
5 ways to increase sales this year
From electronics to jewellery to apparel, everything sells like hot cakes in this season. Use these strategies to increase sales for your business.
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Team up with giants.
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Consider a marketplace fulfilment service.
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Expand your product range.
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Take to social media.
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Offer special discounts.
Increasing sales is easier than you think — especially during Diwali. Read on for tips.
1. Team up with giants
If you are a small business but don’t have a website, this is the right time to grab the opportunity. While you are selling offline, becoming a registered seller on Amazon, Flipkart or Shopclues can bring you more customers and a new source of income.
As Amazon and Flipkart are pulling up their socks to cater to the spike in demand this year, small sellers can have an easy entry — especially if you are selling:
- Gift items
- Apparel
- Jewellery
All of these are in high demand during Diwali.
Editor’s note: For best results, list your products on a marketplace such as Flipkart and sell from your own Online Store. You will get in front of more customers while establishing a name for your business online.
2. Consider a marketplace fulfilment service
Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is a programme offered by Amazon that allows third-party sellers to use Amazon’s infrastructure to warehouse their inventory. For such products, the ancillary activities like packing, shipping and customer service are managed by Amazon. Flipkart offers a similar service.
I look for ‘Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA)’ tag while shopping online because this assures a higher standard in customer service.
If you are already a seller on these marketplaces, you can break through the clutter and appear in the top search results this Diwali by signing up for their fulfilment programs. Of course, this service comes with a cost. But the volume of traffic expected during Diwali can quickly cover it, leaving you more significant margins.
3. Expand your product range
What if you don’t sell the favourite items mentioned above? Try finding gifting opportunities in your current line of products.
Let’s say you sell plants — you could run a campaign ‘Celebrate pollution-free Diwali. Say no to crackers. Gift a plant today!’ The target for such a promotion would be corporate buyers who buy in bulk to gift items to their clients and employees. Even if you are not selling the popular gift items directly, you just need to draw a meaningful link between your products and Diwali gifting theme.
If you can’t, expanding your product range for Diwali is not a bad idea. What does it take to make a sale?
- A product that meets a need.
- A means of selling it.
Your customers won’t mind a small gift stall in front of your shop. In fact, it might even attract more visitors to your business.
4. Take to social media
Nothing captures attention like bold, colorful product photos — and social media networks like Facebook and Instagram are the place to display them.
If you sell beautiful gift items or home decor, set up social media pages with professional photographs of your products, each linking back to your website. Post often throughout the weeks leading up to Diwali, offering gift suggestions and sharing recipes and decorating tips.
You can also sell items right from Facebook Marketplace or your business Instagram via shoppable tags you add to product photos.
Related: How to start a social media marketing strategy
5. Offer special discounts
Discounts are the centre attraction of all Diwali hype. A few popular options to consider for your business:
- Diwali-special combos.
- New customers-only discount.
- Buy two get one free.
This way you can easily sell the items that are less in demand by bundling them with more attractive products.
To decide how much to reduce your price, you must first find your profit margin using this simple equation:
(retail price – cost) ÷ (retail price) = profit margin
For most businesses, the ideal discount falls somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of the product price. Read more here on how to set discount pricing that will still allow you to make a profit.
Always remember the target audience
As you design your Diwali sales strategy, keep buyers firmly in mind. Who are the people that are actually buying the most during Diwali?
Image: The Next Scoop
As against the general belief, it is men who buy the most in Diwali shopping. A study by SEMrush also reveals that well over half of Diwali shoppers are between the ages of 25 and 34.
The same study shows what people spend on during Diwali. eCommerce tops the chart with 22 percent followed by travel (18 percent) and home items (14 percent). This information is useful in choosing which products to feature in ads and social media campaigns — any product or service related to gifting, travel or home.
Increase sales during the festival of lights
Diwali shopping is a mega event — both for Indian customers and businesses. eShopping has become the new trend in digital India, leading to increased sales for many businesses.
Harness the power of the internet and be creative with your campaigns and product photography. With these strategies in place, you can expect a spike in your sales figure.
Wish you a happy and profitable Diwali!
This post on how to increase sales was originally published on 19 November, 2018 and was updated on 15 October, 2019.
Image by: Shweta Saxena
