Late with sending rakhi? Don't sweat, log on

"I have had horrible experiences with these courier people. Once I sent a rakhi to my brother in Pune and they mistakenly dispatched it first to Patna and then it took them at least a month to dispatch it to my brother's residence and that too in a torn condition," said Ratna Shrivastav, a software professional in Delhi's satellite township of Noida.

"After this incident, I dread sending him a rakhi via post. All I do now is go to online shopping portals. They sometimes come up with interesting rakhis and pooja thalis," she added.

Raksha Bandhan celebrates the ties of love and protection between brothers and sisters and coincides with the full moon in the month of Shravan according to the Indian calendar. Rakhi is the thread symbolising this bond and is tied by a sister on her brother. In turn, the brother gifts something to the sister.

Online shopping portals have become a rage in the last few years.
According to Sundeep Malhotra, CEO, HomeShop18, an online shopping portal, education and employment opportunities have created a physical distance between brothers and sisters.

"Our aim is to bridge this distance and ensure that all brothers and sisters receive their gifts regardless of where they are in the country at the time. These portals are very convenient as people now don't have to worry about what to buy, where to buy and timely delivery of gifts," Malhotra said.

HomeShop18 offers a variety of gifting options for rakhi such as silver and pearl rakhis. This collection of rakhis can either be bought separately or they come in a variety of combos with chocolates and MP3 players. Attractive thalis with sweets are also available.
Another advantage of these online portals is that they are available 24x7.

"Online portals are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the year and hence are hugely convenient. Consumers can order products round the clock, review other product options and take an informed decision without having to move from place to place," explained Mukesh Bansal, CEO of myntra.com.

"Convenience and ease of shopping are the cornerstones of e-commerce. The concept of buying gifts and rakhis online is gaining momentum in India by the day," he added.
There are various shopping portals like dilsebol.com, pringoo.com, and picsquare.com where you can send customised T-shirts, mugs, calendars, key chains, teddy bears, greeting cards and bags to your sister.

Picsquare shopping portal also offers the "photo rakhi" in which you can customise your rakhi by having a picture of your brother in it.

After all shipping charges a photo rakhi will cost you around Rs.200.

Currently, myntra.com is offering the designer label Satya Paul range that has stoles, clutch bags and scarves to gift to sisters and wallets, belts, ties and cuff links to gift to brothers. This range is priced between Rs.795 and Rs.2,995.

The shopping portals take two-three days to deliver the gifts anywhere in the country.