Diwali sales are won in October. Families begin shopping weeks before the first diya is lit, and a store that runs out of ghee, sweets, or tea lights on the final weekend sends those customers to a competitor. Diwali falls on Sunday, November 8 this year, with Dhanteras on Friday, November 6 and Bhai Dooj on Tuesday, November 10. The busiest shopping days land on a weekend, and distributors’ festive stock goes to the stores that order first.
Guesswork is expensive in both directions. Order too little and the shelf sits empty during the best week of the season. Order too much and the profit disappears into markdowns. The NRS POS holds the numbers that settle both questions.
Start With Last Year’s Numbers
Last year’s Diwali fell on October 20. NRS POS sales reports cover any custom date range an owner selects, so set the range to the three weeks ending October 23, 2025 and look at what sold. Customized reports show sales by item, by department, and by basket.
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The item view answers the first question: which festive products moved, and how many units of each. The department view shows where the money came from, whether grocery staples, sweets and snacks, or household goods. The basket view shows what customers bought together, which helps later when building gift bundles.
Reports are available on the POS, through the My NRS Store web portal, and in the mobile app. Download and print the item report, and carry it to the distributor or cash-and-carry.
What to Order Now
Place orders for non-perishable items first, because they sell out at the distributor earliest:
- Diyas, tea lights, candles, and string lights
- Rangoli colors and decorations
- Puja supplies, including incense, camphor, and cotton wicks
- Ghee, sugar, besan, basmati rice, and cooking oil for home sweet-making
- Dry fruits, nuts, and gift boxes
- Namkeen and packaged sweets
- Gift bags and greeting cards
Stores that carry housewares can add steel utensils, a traditional Dhanteras purchase. Schedule fresh mithai deliveries for the final week, with the largest drop just ahead of the Dhanteras weekend.
How Much to Order
Use last year’s unit sales for each item as the baseline, then adjust in three ways.
First, find the sellouts. Run single-day reports for the last days before the holiday. An item with strong sales that falls to zero before Diwali ran out, and it deserves a larger order.
Second, account for the calendar. Last year’s Diwali fell on a Monday. A Sunday festival gives families a full weekend to shop and host, so expect heavier traffic on Friday and Saturday.
Third, go light on untested products. Order a small quantity of any new item and let early sales decide the reorder.
Write the adjusted quantity beside each line of the printed report.
Set Up New Items Before the Rush
Every festive product needs a place in the pricebook before it reaches the shelf. Each entry carries a barcode, a name, a department, a cost, and a retail price, and a complete entry means the item scans correctly on the busiest day of the year.
The NRS Merchant Portal lets an owner update prices, costs, and departments from any computer. The My NRS Store app does the same from a phone: scan the item with the camera and change its price or details on the spot. Assign festive products to one department, and next year’s department report will show the whole season in one view.
Promote at the Register
Every customer looks at the screen while paying. The NRS customer-facing screen advertises store promotions during checkout, so use it for gift bundles: a box of sweets with a pack of diyas, or dry fruits with a gift bag. Ads for the screen upload through the NRS Merchant Portal.
Watch Stock Daily Through the Festival
NRS POS tracks inventory and alerts the owner when an item runs low. Check those alerts each morning from late October, and place top-up orders midweek, before the Dhanteras weekend begins. Owners away from the store can follow sales in the mobile app.
After Bhai Dooj
Run the same report on November 11, while the season is fresh. Mark down perishable sweets quickly. Carry candles, lights, dry fruits, and gift items into Thanksgiving and the December holidays. Save the report, because next year’s Diwali order starts with it.
To learn how NRS POS can help your store prepare for Diwali, call (877) 202-8112 or visit nrsplus.com.