Get your store Diwali-ready
Diwali is the busiest few weeks of the year for Indian sellers. Here is a week-by-week plan for a small online store — what to sell, which offer to run, how to take orders, when to stop — and a free store to do it in.
By Manan Agrawal, Founder · Updated September 28, 2026
Diwali is on Sunday 8 November 2026 and Dhanteras on Friday 6 November. Pick a small festive range now, open your store four weeks before, run one offer you have done the maths for, and set a last order date your courier can meet. On SitesPlaced the store is free with 0% commission — UPI, cash on delivery, WhatsApp checkout, coupons and a build-your-own hamper page included. Paid plans add Buy X Get Y and the sales boosters (Growth), and store pages that answer about 4× faster for the festive rush (every paid plan).
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Why open your Diwali store on SitesPlaced?
- ✓It is free, with 0% commission. Unlimited products and orders. You pay nothing to open, and nothing per sale.
- ✓You can be live tonight. Pick one of 16 free store templates, add your products — or bring them in from your Instagram or an existing website — and publish.
- ✓Money goes straight to you. UPI, cards and net banking through your own Razorpay, PhonePe or Cashfree account, plus cash on delivery and WhatsApp checkout.
- ✓The Diwali tools are built in. A build-your-own hamper page, coupons that end on their own, free delivery above an order value, a last-order-date bar and pause ordering — all free.
- ✓It keeps up with the rush. On every paid plan your store pages answer about 4× faster, and Growth adds “Buy 2 Get 1” and cart upsells for bigger orders.
- ✓You are not locked in. Try Growth free for 7 days with the code FREE7 and autopay. Cancel before the first charge and you pay nothing; the free store stays.
Your Diwali plan, week by week
Now: decide what you will sell for Diwali
Pick a small festive range — gift boxes, hampers, sweets, diyas, décor, ethnic wear or jewellery — and price it with packaging and shipping included. Shoot the photos now, while you still have time to redo them.
Four weeks before: put the store up
Open a free store, add the festive range, and turn on UPI, cash on delivery and WhatsApp checkout. If you sell gifts, switch on the build-your-own hamper page so buyers can make their own box.
Three weeks before: set your offer
Choose one clear offer and do the margin maths first. A coupon with an expiry date and the free-shipping bar are free; “Buy 2 Get 1” style offers and cart upsells come with the Growth plan.
Two weeks before: tell everyone, every day
Gift guides by budget on Instagram, packing videos, WhatsApp status updates and one broadcast to people who chose to hear from you. Put the store link everywhere — bio, status, every reply.
One week before: announce the last order date
Ask your courier when the last pickup is that still arrives before Diwali, and put that date in the announcement bar at the top of your store. Anything arriving after Diwali is a disappointed customer.
Dhanteras (Friday 6 November) and Diwali (Sunday 8 November 2026)
Keep local and same-city orders open if you can deliver them. When you stop taking orders, pause ordering with your own message instead of letting orders arrive that you cannot ship.
The week after: thank, review, bring them back
Thank every buyer, ask for a review, sort returns quickly, and give festive buyers a reason to come back — the wedding season is next.
The Diwali tools in your store
Everything below is built into a SitesPlaced store. The plan each one needs is in its title — most of the Diwali basics are free.
Build-your-own hamper page · Free
Buyers pick products and you pack them into one hamper with a photo and a note. Set hamper prices by the number of items, and add a box-and-ribbon product that goes into every hamper.
Coupons with an expiry date · Free
Percent or flat codes, first-order codes and sale prices. Give a DIWALI code an end date so it stops working on its own.
Free-shipping bar · Free
“Add ₹200 more for free delivery” at the top of the cart — the simplest way to lift the size of a festive order.
Announcement bar and pause ordering · Free
Put your last order date at the top of every page, and pause ordering with your own message when you stop shipping for the festival.
UPI, cards, COD and WhatsApp checkout · Free
Payments go to your own Razorpay, PhonePe or Cashfree account with 0% commission. Cash on delivery and WhatsApp orders work on the free plan too.
Buy X Get Y and sales boosters · Growth
“Buy 2 Get 1”, a slide-out cart with upsells, frequently bought together and a post-purchase offer — the tools that turn one Diwali gift into three.
What should you sell for Diwali?
The best Diwali products are things people buy for someone else. If you already sell, add a gift version of what you have — a box, a set, a hamper — rather than starting a new line in October.
- ✓Gift hampers and gift boxes — sweets, dry fruits, candles, skincare, snacks
- ✓Diyas, lanterns, torans, rangoli kits and festive décor
- ✓Ethnic wear, sarees and festive jewellery (Dhanteras is a big day for jewellery)
- ✓Homemade sweets, namkeen and dry-fruit boxes
- ✓Personalised gifts and corporate gift boxes for offices
Pick the free template that matches what you sell — you can change the colours, fonts and photos to look festive.
GiftsGifts & Lifestyle Store
Laid out like Chumbak. A home page of big stacked category photos, shop by occasion, and a preview of the shopper’s own photo on personalised products.
View live demo
FoodFood Store
Laid out like The Whole Truth. A giant type headline instead of a banner photo, colourful category cards, and pack sizes right on the product card.
View live demo
JewelleryJewellery Store
Laid out like GIVA. A search box that stays open, two rows of category tiles, shop-by-price tiles, and each finish shown as a photo on the product page.
View live demo
ClothingClothing Store
Laid out like Jnorss. Edge-to-edge photos, the sizes still in stock on every card, and a save-% tag on anything on sale.
View live demo
HomeHome & Decor Store
Laid out like Troost. A dark header, a calm product grid, a photo mosaic of your categories, and each rug or print design shown as a photo on the product page.
View live demo
BeautyBeauty Store
Laid out like Bella Vita. Bestsellers and New arrivals tabs, a benefit line with star ratings and Add to cart on every card, an offer band, and a bottom menu on phones.
View live demoThinking of opening a store this Diwali?
Guides for selling more this Diwali
Open your Diwali store today
Free to build, publish and sell with 0% commission — UPI, cash on delivery, WhatsApp checkout, coupons and the hamper page included. Want Buy X Get Y, the sales boosters and pages that answer about 4× faster for the rush? Use the code FREE7 at checkout and your first 7 days of Growth are free with autopay.
Start my free store →Already have a store? Open your dashboard and work through the plan above.
Frequently asked questions
When is Diwali in 2026?
Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) is on Sunday 8 November 2026, and Dhanteras is on Friday 6 November 2026. For an online seller the date that matters most is earlier: the last day your courier can pick up an order and still deliver it before Diwali. Ask your courier for that date and put it in your store's announcement bar.
How can a small business make the most of Diwali online?
Sell a small festive range instead of everything, make it easy to buy as a gift (hampers, gift boxes, a gift note), run one clear offer you have done the margin maths for, and tell people every day on Instagram and WhatsApp with your store link. Set a last order date so nothing arrives late.
Can I open an online store for Diwali for free?
Yes. On SitesPlaced the store is free with 0% commission: unlimited products and orders, UPI and cards through your own Razorpay, PhonePe or Cashfree account, cash on delivery, WhatsApp checkout, coupons, the free-shipping bar and the build-your-own hamper page. You pay only if you want what a paid plan adds.
Which paid features help most during the Diwali rush?
Growth (₹499/month) adds Buy X Get Y offers and the sales boosters — cart upsells, frequently bought together and a post-purchase offer — which raise the value of each order. Every paid plan from Starter (₹199/month) also makes your store's pages answer about 4× faster than on the free plan, which matters when festive traffic arrives from Instagram and WhatsApp on phones. With the code FREE7 and autopay, the first 7 days are free.
How do I sell Diwali gift hampers online?
Switch on the build-your-own hamper page, choose which categories buyers can pick from, set a price for each hamper size, and add your packaging as a product that goes into every hamper. Buyers pick the items, add a note, and pay like any other order.
What should I do after Diwali?
Thank every buyer, ask for reviews, handle returns and exchanges quickly, and clear leftover festive stock with a small offer. Then plan for the wedding season, which follows straight after.
