Chandigarh, Aug. 9 -- For years, Rupinder Kaur, a resident of Sector 35, would visit the local market to pick out the perfect rakhi for her sibling. This year, however, she tapped into her phone. With online shopping platforms offering everything that one finds at a local market, consumers have made their choice. "Isn't it easier to just order the same things through a few clicks on your phone rather than going all the way to the market?" Kaur quips. Pihu Ahluwalia, a youngster, who was spotted in Sector 17, echoes similar views. "Many of these online platforms also come with festive offers and personalised gifting options. It feels way more expressive than what markets have to offer," she says. But the traditional retailers are not too happy. Om Prakash, a shopowner in Chandigarh's Sector 15 market, reveals, "We hardly have any customer turnout. We can't figure out if it's the emerging online platforms or if the festive spirit is dying altogether." Despite the lacklustre footfall, retailers are keeping the counters alive - from bhaiya-bhabhi rakhis, sold as coordinated sets for brothers and their spouses, to designs featuring the 'evil eye' and even the recent rage 'Labubu dolls', you name it and they have it. Staff manning the store of a popular instant-delivery platform, meanwhile, reveal they have been seeing brisk business. "The demand increases when there are new festive offers," they say. The demand for postal services, however, remains steady. Senior Post Master at General Post Master, Sector 17, says, "Even as online platform services have increased pan-India, international courier growth has also risen as it can be done only through postal or courier services." India Post has not recorded any decline in festive season dispatches. Experts say couriers and e-commerce platforms are making the most out of the changing habits of urban customers. "While shopping for festivals as a family was once a warm tradition, instant-delivery apps have changed the game. Who wouldn't want that kind of convenience?" says Bharti Sood, regional director at PHD....