Please note. General information only, not CA, legal or financial advice. We are not experts on the rules and nothing here is a guarantee. Your showroom's own policies and the rules that apply to you come first.
Festive week is the busiest stretch of the jewellery year, and it is rarely lost on design or price. It is lost on small things: a queue at billing, a rate board that is out of date, a tray nobody can find, a regular family that nobody greets. This run sheet takes the days of Dhanteras and Diwali one at a time. It is general information drawn from what we see in showrooms again and again, and every showroom will adapt it.
How should a jewellery showroom prepare for Dhanteras and Diwali?
Think in four areas: stock, billing, staff and customers. For each, decide one owner and one check before the shutter goes up.
Before Dhanteras (from now to Thursday)
Stock. Walk the counters with one question: what will a Dhanteras customer ask for first, and can we show it in under a minute? Keep best-selling categories at the front, label the trays, and note the pieces that are already booked so nobody sells them twice. Our article on counter and tray routines covers the habit.
Billing. Run one test basket on the billing desk: a gold item, a silver coin, an old-gold exchange and a part payment on one bill, then print the invoice. This is the exercise behind our Monday post. Fix whatever surprises you now, not on Friday evening. Check printer paper, spare cartridges and backup power. Name two people who can correct a wrong entry.
Rate. Decide who changes the rate, where it is displayed and how the time is shown on the board and on the bill. One person, one place, one time stamp. Our Tuesday post and reel cover this routine.
Staff. Decide roles for the day: door, floor, exchange desk and billing. Our article on festive staffing goes deeper on temporary staff and counter roles. Plan breaks, so the best people are fresh at the busiest hour.
Dhanteras morning (before the shutter goes up)
Take five minutes with everyone. Give one answer to each of the three questions every customer asks: the rate and the time it was set, how the making charge is explained, and what happens with old gold. Ask each person to say it back once. Then say who to call if a staff member is not sure. This is the huddle from our Thursday post and reel, sales training covers it in more detail.
Dhanteras day
Owner position. The owner is the most expensive person to leave at the billing desk. A trained cashier can run billing. The owner adds the most at the door, on the floor with a hesitant buyer and at the exchange desk for a large old-gold piece. If you cannot leave billing, put your best cashier there and spend an hour where the customers are.
Rate changes. If the rate changes during the day, change it once, update the board and the billing together, and note the time. Staff say one line: "This is the current rate, and the time is on the bill."
Queues. Watch the billing desk and the exchange desk. If either has a queue, move one person to help it rather than waiting for it to clear.
Stock top-up. Ask one person to keep a running list of what customers asked for and the shop did not have. Our Saturday reel is about this list.
The day after, and Diwali weekend
Rest your team in turns, since many will have worked long hours. Restock the counters and count what is booked for delivery. Take ten minutes to write down what worked and what did not, while it is fresh. Decide your Diwali-day plan early and tell staff and regular customers, a poll question we asked on LinkedIn this week. Open, half day, closed for puja or by appointment are all valid, as long as people know.
The week after
Review the list of what customers asked for and you did not have. It is an honest, low-cost input to your next order and your stock review.
A one-page checklist to print
- Test basket run and printed invoice checked
- One person, one place, one time stamp for the rate
- Roles for door, floor, exchange desk and billing
- Morning huddle: three questions, one answer each
- Backup power, printer paper and spare cartridges checked
- Running list of what customers asked for and you did not have
- Diwali-day plan told to staff and regular customers
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we need new software for festive week?
Usually not. It needs a test, a routine and two people who know the fix. If your billing system keeps surprising you, our process review is a good place to start.
What is the one thing to do if we are short of time?
The test basket on the billing desk.
Should the owner be at the counter?
Be where your attention adds the most: the door, the floor and the exchange desk. Billing can be run by a trained cashier.
How early should we plan next year's festive week?
Right after this one. Write down what happened while it is fresh, and the plan will almost write itself.
Need help building this into your showroom?
We help jewellery showrooms turn routines like this into simple, repeatable processes, from the billing desk to the counter team. Book a Consultation and we will talk through your showroom.
Please note. General information only, not CA, legal or financial advice. We are not experts on the rules and nothing here is a guarantee.
Quick question? Ask Khushi, our website assistant, using the button at the bottom-right of this page. She answers in English or Hindi and can book a consultation for you.
