e-commerce
Snapdeal witnessed 50% growth over last year from two Diwali sale editions
MUMBAI: Snapdeal, one of India’s largest value-focused online marketplaces, concluded the first two of its Bharat-focused Diwali sales on a high note. Snapdeal witnessed a 50 per cent growth over last year from the first two sale editions of this year and is confident of the momentum continuing in the third and final Snap-Diwali sale.
Two out of every five buyers who bought in the Diwali sales came back for another purchase during the ongoing sales to take advantage of the attractive offers.
For Snapdeal, the strong performance this Diwali continues, with orders consistently at more than 1.5 times that of last Diwali. Nearly 90 per cent of the orders received on the marketplace so far were from non-metro cities like Nagpur, Surat, Vijayawada, Chandigarh, Panaji, Jamshedpur, Shimla, Guwahati, Roorkee, Hazaribagh, Khammam, Tezpur etc.
The first time users surged across cities like Nashik, Surat, Chandigarh, Panaji, and Guwahati and the overall growth in first time users was 2.3 times YoY.
Working closely with its seller-partners & logistics companies, Snapdeal has already shipped out 97 per cent of the Diwali sale orders so that orders are delivered ahead of the upcoming festivities.
An interesting trend that emerged this year is of buyers from metro hubs like Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata using Snapdeal to send Diwali gifts for their families back home in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, and Himachal Pradesh. These gifts were sent to small towns like Khalgaon & Sangrampur in Bihar, Tato in Odisha, Rampur in Himachal Pradesh etc.
According to Snapdeal, “The trend of users buying gifts on Snapdeal and sending it to their families back home is something that started last year and has grown sharply this year. The volume of such gifts has already tripled this year and we expect more such orders over the next few days.”
“The range of festivals starting with Karva Chauth and followed by Dhanteras, Diwali, Bhaiya Dooj and Chhath Puja have become important gifting occasions. Many of our users who stay away from their families, find and ship their gifts home via Snapdeal. We are privileged to be connecting loved ones with their families on these festive occasions.”
Highest trending products for gifts sent home:
● Clothes for family members constituted 60 per cent of the gift items, with Sarees, sweaters and childrens’ garments accounting for the bulk of this.
● Home use products like Steel utensil sets, copper flask-tumbler, quilts, blankets and bed sheets accounted for nearly 20 per cent of the gifts category.
● The other popular items shipped home by family members in big cities included set of 3-watches, duffel bags, mini bluetooth speakers, earphones, Rechargeable LED lights, mosquito nets and Toran door hangings.
Overall Sale:
● Home, kitchen and fashion categories were key drivers of repeat purchases.
● Festive fashion, electronic accessories, Diwali lights, traditional Diwali decorations and home products continued to be strong sellers in the Diwali Sales.
● 2 out of 5 buyers who bought in current Diwali sale came back for another purchase
● 97% of orders received already shipped.
The third & final Snap-Diwali sale for the festive season will commence on 18 October and will conclude on 20 October 2019.
e-commerce
Instamart and Duolingo launch street spell check campaign for Instaprint
Duo the owl fixes signboard typos across cities to showcase instant printing.
MUMBAI: If spelling mistakes had a sworn enemy, it might just be a bright green owl with a printer. Instamart has teamed up with language learning platform Duolingo for a quirky nationwide campaign that turns everyday spelling errors into a public spectacle while promoting its instant printing service, InstaPrint. The playful activation takes aim at the many misspelled shop boards and public signs scattered across Indian streets. From “saloons” that promise haircuts rather than drinks to menus and posters peppered with punctuation mishaps, the campaign sends Duolingo’s mascot Duo on a mission to restore linguistic order.
Armed with Instamart’s instant printing feature, Duo prints corrected versions of the mistakes on the spot and pastes them over the originals. The result is a series of humorous street interventions that have quickly begun circulating on social media.
Photos and videos of the grammar correcting owl have been widely shared online, with amused users reacting to the unexpected spell check patrol. One user joked, “Ab ayega na maza bhidu,” capturing the internet’s delight at the unusual campaign.
Behind the humour lies a practical message. The activation is designed to showcase the capabilities of Instaprint, Instamart’s printing service that allows users to print documents and posters almost instantly.
The company says the feature is meant for everyday needs such as printing resumes, visa documents or last minute posters without the usual scramble to locate a print shop.
Instamart introduced Instaprint in 2025 across select metropolitan cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. The service allows users to order printed materials directly through the platform, extending the quick commerce model beyond groceries and household essentials.
By combining Duolingo’s famously persistent owl with India’s street level spelling quirks, the campaign taps into the internet’s long running fascination with grammar mistakes while demonstrating a real world use case for instant printing.
After all, in a world full of typos, sometimes what you really need is a quick printer and a very determined language teacher.
