Craftsvilla Talks Pre-Diwali Sales And Grand Diwali Sales

We begin by asking the wife and husband power team for their individual opinion and marketing strategy for the upcoming Diwali sales.

Monica said, “Diwali month is anyway a very profitable time for us. However we have extended our seasonal sales for Diwali with a smaller “pre-Diwali” sale leading to the grand Diwali sale. This way we hope to leverage the customer’s natural propensity to celebrate with ethnic purchases with a Diwali sale lasting a while longer, and also of course, by offering a high quality ethnic product portfolio.”

Manoj follows, “There is a surge in natural demand from customers during Diwali. So we will not be spending too much on promotions and customer acquisition. Most larger ecomm companies will look at Diwali more as a month to burn, not a month to earn. From Craftsvilla’s own experimentation last Diwali, we know that this does not works for us. So we will be sticking to our original principle as Craftsvilla has a high rate of repeat customers for this season even without much cash burn.”

In addition Manoj discusses other Diwali sale details with BWDisrupt:

What can we expect from Craftsvilla this festive season?

As mentioned earlier, we want to provide the consumer with a single stop for all festive related shopping. So the focus is on getting the best collection of products for our consumers. Our stylists have curated a special festive collection based on the latest festive fashion trends. There are also new collections and special discounts that the sellers have provided to delight our consumers. While apparels are top of the priority list, we are also bringing in newer SKUs in categories like home décor. Products like Jaipur blankets/quilts, unique lamps, lanterns and ethnic curtains are few categories that we are seeing an increase interest in.

Consumers can expect the latest collections at the best prices on our platform.

What are the best-selling products for the season?

Festive season is big for ethnic as a category. Since we specialise in ethnic, all the categories see an increase in demand. However apparels do top the list with consumers mostly opting for the heavily embellished apparels or occasion wear.

How important is this festive season for Craftsvilla?

Festive season is of great importance to us. It is the time when people celebrate and go back to their roots. There is a lot of demand for ethnic products and consumers shop for ethnic wear like sarees, salwar suits, kurta-pyjama, dhoti, home décor items etc. Since we understand the importance of this season, we have not one but two sale events. Craftsvilla Grand Festive Sale which already ongoing (ends on October 5th) and Craftsvilla Grand Diwali Sale (October 12th-16th). Consumers can enjoy minimum 50% off at both these events on a wide range of categories.

Expectations from this season? Better sales than last year’s seasonal sales for same time?

We saw ~100% month on month growth in the last season’s sale. This year too we are expecting a similar number.

Is the coming festive season the busiest festive season for Craftsvilla?

I would say so. However, India is a land of festivals and occasions. So there is hardly any period when people are not looking to buy ethnic, however these are sometimes limited only to certain geographies. Like for example, during Lohri we see a lot of traction from the north. Diwali, however, sees demand from all across the nation. So yes this is one of the busiest seasons for us. Eid is a very close second.

Could you compare revenue during Diwali and revenue during a non-festive season?

Diwali usually generates twice the usual month’s traction and generates 50% more revenues than any other festive season (which comes around Eid).

How have the acquired startups aided the growth of Craftvilla’s customer base, sales, and distribution channels?

They have all complemented our core proposition of becoming the 'one-stop-destination' for all things ethnic. While PlaceofOrigin has added to our ethnic portfolio by bringing in food items from across India on our platform, Sennd has helped us build and improve our logistics operations. Along with them we are working towards reducing RTO and improving pricing.

What are Craftsvilla`s future plans?

Our focus is on becoming profitable which means that our energies as a company will be focused on net revenues and not GMV. We will continue to add more categories in the future. The idea is to be ethnically horizontal. Our recently added categories like ethnic foods and men’s wear are doing well. We will continue to build these along with ayurvedic products, home décor and crafts.