Hyderabad: As Diwali approaches, Hyderabad's traditional markets are bustling with activity. In Begum Bazaar and Sitaram Bazaar in the old city, and General Bazaar in Secunderabad, shoppers navigate crowded lanes lined with stalls selling flowers, coconuts, brooms, decorative lights, sweets and firecrackers. Wholesalers cater to bulk buyers, while smaller retailers hope to make the most of one of their busiest trading seasons.
But festive shopping is no longer confined to these markets. Quick-commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart now deliver diyas, candles, rangoli colours and decorative lights to customers' doorsteps in minutes.
Is this convenience taking customers away from traditional markets?
Traders offer contrasting accounts. While some acknowledge the growing pressure from online shopping, others say festival-specific demand, established customer relationships and the advantage of inspecting products before purchase continue to draw buyers to their shops.
No Diwali is complete without diyas, and they are among the items quick-commerce apps push hardest. The potters who make them say the festival is when their sales rise, though many run stalls or make diyas through the year.
For many traders, festival shopping is dictated by tradition rather than convenience.
A seller of coconuts and brooms says demand for coconuts remains steady during the puja season, while broom sales rise around Dhanteras and Lakshmi Puja, when buying a new broom carries ritual significance for many households.
"During the festival season, everything sells. Online shopping happens, and retail shopping happens too," he says.
"The time for cleaning has come. Even on the day of Lakshmi Puja, people buy brooms because it is associated with the worship of Goddess Lakshmi."
For vendors selling traditional sweets and offerings such as batasha, the sales window is even shorter.
"These are sold for Diwali puja. After Diwali, they are neither used nor sold," says one vendor.
Another trader, who primarily supplies merchandise for events throughout the year, says Diwali brings a brief but important surge in business.
"This particular merchandise is sold only during Diwali. The business runs for about 10 days. Once Diwali is over, we pack everything up and clear the stock," he says.
He remains largely unconcerned about online competition, pointing to customers who have returned to his shop for five or six years.
"Whether it is Amazon, Zepto or any other website, it makes no difference to us. We tell customers they can buy from there if they want. Here, they can see the actual product, check its quality and compare the price. Online, you are shown photographs," he says.
The impact of online shopping is less clear-cut in the flower trade.
One seller acknowledges that home deliveries have changed customers' shopping habits.
"Of course, it will affect us a little. Earlier, people used to go to the market. Now, people are not even going to the vegetable market; everything is being done from home," he says.
But the distinction, traders explain, lies in what customers are buying.
While a small bunch of flowers can be ordered online, wedding garlands, event decorations and bulk orders are generally arranged directly with suppliers. Increasingly, customers discover and contact these businesses through Instagram and WhatsApp.
Another seller says buyers still travel from distant parts of Hyderabad to purchase flowers for specific pujas. He maintains that online platforms have had little impact on his business.
Flower prices also fluctuate daily, making the trade different from the sale of standardised products.
For these traders, digital platforms are not necessarily replacing the traditional market. In some cases, social media is simply providing another route for customers to reach them.
For a trader dealing in LED lights and electrical goods, however, online competition presents a more immediate problem: pricing.
He says products listed on Amazon and Flipkart are sometimes priced close to wholesale rates, leaving physical retailers struggling to explain the difference to customers.
"Customers see a product online and compare the price with what we are selling it for. But they don't always consider the damage, wastage or the cost of replacing a defective product," he says.
He also questions some online discount claims, alleging that inflated listed maximum retail prices can make discounts appear more substantial than they are.
The pressure, he believes, is particularly severe for smaller retailers.
Although his own business is largely wholesale, he says traders who purchase stock from wholesalers and sell it in smaller towns and villages face a greater challenge. They must account for transportation, other operating expenses and potential losses while keeping prices competitive.
For such businesses, matching online prices can mean sacrificing already narrow margins.
The potters also have similar complaints but their defence is design.
"There may be only three or four varieties online, whereas we have several different models," they say.
And the most buyers, they say, still come to the stall to buy in bulk, sometimes around a dozen or two at a time.
The firecracker trade presents a different picture altogether.
Unlike most festive essentials available through quick-commerce apps, firecrackers cannot legally be sold through e-commerce platforms under the Supreme Court's 2018 directions.
The competition here is therefore largely between physical sellers, and even within the traditional market, business is uneven.
Traders identify Standard, Shanti and Vishnu among the major wholesale suppliers in Begum Bazaar. Larger outlets attract long queues during the festive season, but smaller stalls do not always experience the same rush.
One such vendor says he has invested heavily in stock without seeing the sales he expected.
"I have invested around ₹2 lakh to ₹3 lakh, but sales are not moving as expected. Customers say they don't have money to spend," he says.
Small retailers often depend on larger wholesalers for their stock, sometimes making purchases in the early hours of the morning. The trader says unsold merchandise can be carried over to the following year, but that does little to ease the immediate pressure on sales.
Another vendor, who has been selling firecrackers for a decade, reports a similar slowdown.
"Last year was a little better. This year, the market is somewhat down," he says.
But he does not attribute the decline to digital shopping.
"It doesn't affect us. Our customers are different," he says.
Their experiences underline another reality of festive commerce: even where online platforms pose no direct competition, a crowded market does not guarantee healthy sales for every trader.
Despite his concerns about pricing, the LED trader believes traditional businesses cannot afford to ignore digital platforms.
"If we have to survive today, we have to be online," he says.
His shop already uses Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp to promote products and connect with customers.
But the shift comes with its own complications. A product advertised online may generate a surge in enquiries, only to sell out before interested buyers reach the shop.
"The business is still getting customers, but the growth we expect is not being achieved," he says.
His proposed solution is a model that brings traditional retailers and digital platforms together.
He suggests that e-commerce and quick-commerce companies could create dedicated online spaces for local shops, allowing customers to access products from multiple retailers. If one store runs out of an item, another participating shop could fulfil the order.
"If platforms such as Blinkit create a dedicated page for offline shops, even larger stores and smaller businesses can sell through them. We can offer special prices, customers can access more products, and the platform can also earn from the arrangement," he says.
For traders like him, the question is no longer simply whether online shopping threatens physical stores, but whether both can benefit from working together.
The festive trade in Hyderabad's traditional markets tells a more nuanced story than one of neighbourhood shops being displaced by 10-minute deliveries.
Ritual-driven purchases, loyal customers, product variety and the opportunity to inspect goods before buying continue to bring shoppers to the bazaars. At the same time, online prices and the convenience of home delivery are changing customer expectations.
The impact varies across businesses. Some traders report little disruption, while others face pricing pressure, slower sales or difficulties adapting to digital demand.
And at least one trader sees an opportunity in the very platforms that threaten to bypass traditional retail.
For now, Hyderabad's old markets have not lost their festive crowds. But as the way people shop changes, holding on to those customers — and making a profit from their purchases — is becoming a different challenge altogether.