Diwali 2025: Shopping, Spending, and the Power of the Window Display

Diwali is more than just a festival, it’s India’s single largest retail season. Across categories like jewellery, fashion, electronics, and home décor, brands see their highest annual footfall and spending in the weeks leading up to the festival of lights.

 The Scale of Diwali Spending

According to McKinsey’s retail insights, festive shopping accounts for nearly 30–40% of annual sales for premium lifestyle brands.

The CAIT (Confederation of All India Traders) reported that Diwali 2024 saw ₹3.5 lakh crore worth of festive business across India, a record-high, with categories like jewellery, luxury apparel, and consumer electronics driving growth.

Consumers are shopping with intent: a Deloitte survey revealed that 60% of urban buyers plan to increase their Diwali spending this year, prioritizing luxury and experience-driven purchases.

This means for brands, Diwali is not just about being present, it’s about standing out.

Why the Window Display Still Matters

In an era dominated by online ads and social media campaigns, physical retail continues to play a critical role. Leafio’s study on luxury visual merchandising notes that nearly 70% of purchase decisions in premium retail are influenced at the store level, with windows being the very first touchpoint.

A striking window display doesn’t just catch the eye; it:

• Transforms footfall into walk-ins → inviting customers inside who may never have planned to enter.
• Signals brand positioning → luxury, festive, contemporary, or aspirational cues can all be communicated within seconds.
• Creates Instagrammable moments → in a festive season where shoppers share their experiences, windows double as organic marketing.
   

Festive Windows results into Festive Sales 
 

McKinsey highlights that effective merchandising can lift sales by 15–20% during peak seasons. For Diwali, that lift can mean the difference between being a brand that blends in, or one that dominates mindshare and market share.

Across India’s luxury corridors — from Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda to Delhi’s DLF Emporio, windows become stages where brands tell their festive stories. Those who invest in creativity, craftsmanship, and emotional storytelling see their investments come back as higher conversion and customer loyalty.

The Opportunity This Diwali

With footfalls expected to surge in the weeks leading up to the festival, brands that treat their window displays as strategic business tools — not just décor — will be the ones to capture attention, drive walk-ins, and convert festive shoppers into lifetime customers.

As Diwali lights up the streets, the most successful brands will be those whose windows light up imaginations.