Billing for your toy shop in Nagaland
Toys by the piece, garlands by the metre and a counter open till nine in December, all on one phone.
From the day total at nine o'clock to the red toy you can promise
The Christmas order goes in before the shelf shows a single star
Stars, tinsel and lights sell in four weeks and then wait a year. The order goes to the wholesaler before the season, while the shelf is bare. An order made late arrives when the four weeks are nearly over.
Children's Day gifts for the schools, on each school's page
Schools buy small gifts for Children's Day in November. Make each gift an item with its count, and each school's bill on its page shows what it took, so next year the school asks for the same and you have it ready.
A garland by the metre and a toy by the piece on one bill
The garland is an item sold by the metre, the ornament is sold by the piece, and the car is sold by the piece. The parent hears the total, takes the bill on WhatsApp, and you do not add a thing in your head at the busiest hour.
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Tools for a toy counter in the weeks of Christmas decorations
Daily reports
Today's sales at nine o'clock, to put beside the cash box before you close in December.
Low stock warnings
A warning when the blue car is down to the number you set, so the order to the wholesaler goes on time.
Bills on your phone
A bill with three metres of garland, a tree ornament and a toy car, each at its own unit and rate, made before the parent has finished choosing.
Orders to suppliers
The order of Christmas lights and stars sent to the Guwahati wholesaler in October, each carton ticked as it comes.
Your own online shop
A page of the Christmas stars, lights and tinsel you stock, sent to the church decoration committees in November.
Handicrafts and the hub town: where Nagaland toy buyers come from
Two places a Nagaland toy shop hears about from its buyers.
- Dimapur is the state's main commercial centre, and its only railhead and airport are there.
- Kohima has a seven-storey State Emporium Complex for Naga handloom and handicrafts, opened on 6 June 2025.
A shop open till nine, a blue toy that sold out and garlands on the toy shelf
The shop stays open till nine in December, and the sales of the last hour go unwritten
In November the Dimapur Chamber of Commerce asked shops to stay open till nine for the festive rush and to put up Christmas decorations by the first of December. After work and after school the families come, and in the last hour there are many small sales, a toy here, a balloon pack there, each a different amount. Nobody writes them down properly before the shutter comes down.
Carved log-drum models and tree decorations share one shelf
In advent the toy shelf also carries carved log-drum models for the Hornbill visitors and the tree decorations for the houses. The model sells to one kind of buyer and the decoration to another, and they are asked for in the same hours. When the season ends, nobody can say which of the two the shelf space was worth. The Hornbill Festival runs from 1 to 10 December at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, near Kohima, and the 2024 edition drew 2,05,968 visitors, so the models sell hardest in the same ten days.
A toy, three metres of garland and an ornament on one bill, added by hand
In advent the toy shop also stocks decorations: garlands by the metre, small lights, tree ornaments by the piece. They are sold in the same hours to the same parents. A bill that has a toy, three metres of garland and an ornament is added by hand, with a mistake in some of them, and the queue behind the parent grows while you add.
Questions Nagaland toy shops ask
Carved log-drum models sell to Hornbill visitors. Can they be counted apart from the plastic toys?
Yes. Make each carved piece its own item with its rate. Its count stays apart, and the Hornbill days show how many the visitors took home.
Can I see how much of the Christmas stock was left on the second of January?
Yes. The count of each item is on your phone. On the second of January it shows what is left, and that is what you put away for next year. Put that count in as next year's starting stock in the first week of January, so the October order to the wholesaler is for what is missing and not for a second heap of the same star.
A parent comes back for half a metre more of the same garland. Can it go on her bill?
Yes. Make a second bill under her name for the half metre. The roll's metres come down by half a metre, and the first bill and the second both stand on her page with their days, so a parent who asks later what she took has one list to read.
Footballs sell all year to the village boys. Can I see which size sells most?
Yes. Make each size its own item. The report shows how many of each went out, so the next order is mostly the size the boys play with.
Christmas hours and decorations: how Dimapur shops trade in advent
In November 2019 the Dimapur Chamber of Commerce asked all shops to stay open till 9 pm for the festive rush and to put up Christmas decorations by 1 December.
In November 2021, with Christmas a month away, Dimapur shops and street vendors stocked decorations. A wholesale shop sold garlands at Rs 250 to 600 and pine tree replicas from Rs 1,250.