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DIWALI ON THE NET A Diwali Of Clicks? e-biz sites try to make the most of the festive splurge. Not much will happen. By Vinod Mahanta
A year ago, and a few weeks before Indiaworld.com's Rajesh Jain sold it all, most Indian e-commerce sites were being incubated, launched, and feted. There's a high probability that the e-commerce heads of these sites were celebrating Diwali like, well, you and me do. You know, the usual melange of sweets, firecrackers, lights, catching up with family, perhaps a round or two of cards... and shopping. This year they can quite simply forget it. The festival of lights is the first trial by fire for Indian e-commerce sites, already under a sceptical spotlight. It goes without saying that Diwali makes the sales counters crackle-and Indian e-commerce sites are (with good reason) hoping to transmit the generous loosening of purse strings onto the virtual world (trade estimates record 20-40 per cent of annual consumer goods sales during Diwali). Hamstrung by low penetration, inadequate payment mechanisms, resistance to on-line shopping, domestic e-commerce sites now have an opportunity to walk the talk. Problem is-no one knows quite what to expect. Says Hema Parameswaran, the fast-talking CEO of Bangalore-based Buyasone.com: ''People usually purchase new items on Diwali, and manufacturers try to offer deals in this period, so it's an ideal time to pass on the benefits to the customer.'' Discounts and freebies will be par for the course as sites go overboard in trying to woo customers to make that purchase. All the leading sites-from Fabmart and Jaldi, to Rediff and Sify-are offering discounted products or sponsored prizes. Rediff, for instance, will be delivering $5 worth of sweets free to any address in India, for NRI shoppers on the site. For obvious reasons, most sites will target the prosperous NRI segment. For instance, Fabmart and Archiesonline have been advertising on Khaleej Times and India Abroad News Service. But ask Archiesonline's Chief Marketing Officer Vineet Kapila his expectations and his reply is a disappointing 250 orders. That's because, barring Rediff.com and Sify.com, most Indian e-commerce sites will only deliver on the subcontinent. That opens the door for US-based NRI-focused sites like namaste.com and chaitime.com. Back home, scalability is hardly an issue as expectations are low. Says Fabmart's Veep K. Vaitheeswaran, 36: ''This is our first Diwali, and we don't know what kind of orders we'll get. Our idea is to check whether we have the capability to handle a spurt in orders.'' Shopping experience on the Net in India has been hardly perfect. Like rest of the world, consumers will be unforgiving if their orders do not reach in time. Why, rediff.com is leaving a big-and-visible-window of seven days' delivery time on the site. Says Rohit Verma, 40, Veep (Brand Marketing), Rediff: ''We have the necessary infrastructure to handle orders all year, including peak festival times.'' That's easier said than done. In this busy season, most manufacturers have their hands full. Says V. Narayanan, 35, Deputy General Manager Lgezbuy.com, LG's Electronics site: ''There is hype in the air during Diwali. We for one will not do anything to increase sales, apart from promoting some games.'' Looks like Lakshmi isn't visiting the e-commerce space this year.
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