The brand demonstrated how culturally relevant, family-focused activations can function as scalable acquisition funnels, increasing engagement time and strengthening brand affinity
Bhubaneswar: Khimji Jewellers leveraged experiential retail to drive store footfalls and customer acquisition through the latest edition of its in-store children’s drawing competition, ‘Chhota Kalakar’, aligning it with the Vaikuntha collection inspired by Lord Jagannath.
The Rath Yatra-themed contest converted a cultural moment into a retail entry point, encouraging families to visit stores together. By engaging children through art, the initiative created a non-transactional touchpoint that introduced new customers to the brand while reinforcing recall among existing ones.
Launched during Children’s Day last November, ‘Chhota Kalakar’ has evolved into a recurring platform timed around key occasions such as Republic Day and Rath Yatra. The retailer has developed it into a long-term family engagement initiative that aligns with its brand philosophy of treating customers as an extension of the Khimji family.
“At Khimji, we have always been connected with families and have treated our customers as family, not just customers. With that thought, we decided to celebrate many of life’s special moments with them at our store. From that idea, a small event like ‘Chhota Kalakar’ was born, where we wanted to give children below 18 years of age a platform to showcase their talent in painting at our store,” said Rajiv C. Menon, CEO, Khimji Jewellers.
The contest format has expanded across editions from freestyle themes to festival-led artwork ensuring novelty and encouraging repeat participation, a key driver of sustained footfalls and deeper customer engagement.
“Khimji has been a reputed brand in Odisha for the last 90 years, and we actively participate in the events and emotions of people across the state. Rath Yatra is one such occasion where we have been actively involved for many years,” Menon said.
“We decided that today’s kids should understand the significance of Jai Jagannath and the Puri Rath Yatra. So, we decided to organize a competition where the kids could paint on the theme of Jai Jagannath. The kids were bound to ask their parents, ‘What is the story behind the Puri Yatra?’ It was an indirect attempt from our side to educate the kids about the concept of Rath Yatra and its cultural significance,” Menon added.
Conducted on Sundays across all 11 Khimji Jewellers stores in Odisha, participants could visit anytime during store hours, allowing families the flexibility to plan their visit without fixed competition slots. Children received gifts, while parents were offered refreshments and an opportunity to browse the jeweller’s collections in a relaxed environment, turning the activity into a soft-selling platform.
Beyond driving footfalls, Menon said the initiative created meaningful moments that resonated with parents.”Parents got the opportunity to watch their children in action. In today’s fast-paced lives, we are all so occupied with work and earning a livelihood that we rarely get uninterrupted time with our kids. Here, parents can actually sit and watch their son or daughter paint for one or two hours, and the excitement and joy that creates is truly special,” he said.
With ‘Chhota Kalakar’, Khimji Jewellers demonstrated how culturally relevant, family-focused activations can function as scalable acquisition funnels, bringing new consumers into stores, increasing engagement time and strengthening brand affinity.
“Chhota Kalakar has become one of our most successful programmes. It is something that families and children genuinely look forward to from Khimji every year,” Menon concluded.
Khimji Jewellers currently operates 11 stores across Odisha.
Written by Zara Fernandes
Retail Jeweller India Exclusive
