Chennai’s shoppers take the digital route this Deepavali

Retailers across Chennai have now piggybacked on their online portals to help drive Deepavali sales. Customers who are spoilt for choice are buying everything from sweets to sarees and jewellery and gift items to consumer durables from e-commerce sites, owing to the cost benefits and convenience factor. 

Deepavali this year seems to have undergone a digital makeover with orders worth lakhs being placed on e-commerce platforms. And it seems high end retailers and consumer durable giants who were until now happy to serve their customers out of brick and mortar stores are eyeing the goldmine that is the online space. Taking a giant leap of faith to drive festive sales, many local brands have now beefed up their stocks on the digital front. 

Talking about the manner in which brand Viveks has embraced the notion of technology this Deepavali, B Shankar, Head of e-commerce and the son of BA Kodandaraman Shetty, Chairman and MD of Vivek Ltd says, “The trust factor has improved considerably. For almost 18 months, we saw our Cash on Delivery (COD) business contributing 60 to 70 per cent of sales. But, now it hovers around 20 to 25 per cent. People are comfortable with online payments owing to the credibility factor. Also, customers are receiving loyalty points or up to 10 per cent cash-back through the use of debit/credit cards on online portals. Those having two to three cards are able to leverage additional benefits.”

Consumer durables is of course a segment that is seeing lot of traction this festive season. Mobile phones, smartphones and large television sets are moving fast in the online market during the festive season, he adds, emphasising that price points of Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 seem to be the preferred choice. 

For the health conscious, it seems picking gifts online seems to be the way to go, as competitive pricing and discounts on bulk purchases have shaken up the market in more ways than one. According to Dinesh Kumar, MD, Browntree, “Healthy alternatives to sugar-based sweets and confectioneries are the bestsellers every year. However, our online sales have seen a 25 per cent jump compared to last year. The offtake of dry fruits and nuts is high with biscuits following closely on their heels.” Other traditional players like Vishnu Shankar, the Director, Adyar Ananda Bhavan say they have seen their online sales surge by 5 to 10 per cent. “Sweets below the Rs 250 price range are the most attractive items. Cashew-based packages with longer shelf-life are the fast moving items,” he adds. 

Meanwhile, Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India, says, “There certainly is a lot of buoyancy in the market. However, the actual traction on online versus offline sales can be determined only a few days prior to the festival as sales begin picking up towards the end.”