How the Sivakasi season works
Why crackers are made from April to October, and why June booking matters.
Training counter staff before the Deepavali rush
Your shop is only as good as the person at the counter on the busiest night. A one-hour briefing we suggest to every dealer.
Most cracker shops hire extra hands for the last two weeks before Deepavali, often college students or relatives. They are willing, but they have rarely sold crackers before. An hour of training in early October saves a lot of trouble later.
Start with the stock. Walk them along the shelves and show them each line, what it does and how long it lasts. Teach them to read the carton label: item, count, burn time or shots, and the distance to keep. Customers will ask “which one goes highest” and “how long does the 60-shot run”, and the answer is on the label.
Next, the counter rules. Sell only to adults. Keep the billing area and any lamps well away from the stock. No smoking anywhere in or near the shop, by staff or customers, and a bucket of sand and water by the door at all times. If a customer wants to light something to test it, the answer is always no.
Finally, the advice they should pass on with every bag. Wear cotton, keep a bucket of water nearby, light at arm’s length, keep children with an adult and never relight a dud. We print these lines on a small card that we send with every lorry, 200 cards per order. Put a stack at the billing counter and ask your staff to hand one over with every bill.
