Digital Marketing Trends Shaping India's Shopping Holidays

Authored by Rajeev Garg, Co-founder &  CCO, ETML

India's lively festival culture is an essential component of its social fabric, influencing not only personal lives but also economic strategies. In recent years, the rise of digital marketing has reshaped how businesses interact with consumers during festivals, allowing them to adapt to new trends and technologies while driving growth and performance. Discover the important festival marketing trends in the Indian digital landscape and how brands can use them to improve their effectiveness.

The festive times in India is a great time to strategize sales and branding strategies. Festivals in India are not just an occasion for celebration, but also an opportunity from brands and retailers. Consumer spending is at a peak during this period and the demand skyrockets. With consumer demand breaking through the roof it becomes an opportunity for brands to leverage it for their advantage. It is projected that this time online festive sale will rise up to 1 Lakh crore which will be led by Quick-Commerce platforms.

Marketplace activities during festivals

With the festive season approaching we are bound to notice drastic changes in Brand activities to maximise profits. Big digital marketplaces of India like Amazon and Flipkart organize the biggest sale of the year during this period. Amazon with its Great Indian Festival that starts on 27th of September and Flipkart with its Big Billion Days (Live now) are all set to conquer the ecommerce market. This is not just great news for them but also for other brands.

Brands can plan out their marketing strategies, utilize branding opportunities and launch new products in the market. It is also important to acknowledge the efforts of competitors and how to gain an upper hand on them as they might also be planning for the same opportunity for a long time. It becomes crucial to understand the persona and the mindset of the target audience during festivals. Brands can leverage this to target with accuracy, plan out best offers and creatives and boost sales.

The Rise of Quick-Commerce in India

Having big sale events for Amazon and flipkart in place which has a history of ecommerce records set in the Indian market we can not ignore the rising trend of Quick-Commerce in India. Quick commerce like Swiggy Instamart, Blinkt, Zepto and many such brands are picking up pace unlike anything else we have ever seen. With the news around of such brands starting 24/7 services during festive season, even the big players like Amazon and Flipkart cannot help but notice with a keen eye. 

With the rise of quick commerce there comes also the opportunity to advertise and grow sales and profit. Quick commerce has a wide range of product fleet with incredibly low delivery time. People can now just order a quick gift from such places and get them in minutes of time. This changes the mindset of consumers to buy products from these places rather than wait for days to get a delivery. 

Now for marketers, these quick-commerce also provide advertising opportunities to grow on the platform. It is crucial to analyse and plan strategically keeping in mind the nature of the quick commerce market.

Marketing Tips for Upcoming Festive Season

Keeping all the info in mind, now comes the part of how and what to do during the festive time as a marketer and also some key points to remember when doing so. Here’s a quick guide on how to utilize this opportunity.

1. Planning out personalized creative: Brands can plan their creatives in such a way that connects with festive feelings of the consumer while at the same time adding a value to their purchase.
2. Planning out offers: During this time consumers are bombarded with offers. To get better results make sure your offer stands out.
3. Branding opportunity: Branding can help with long-term engagement of the audience which helps them retain Brand’s name and trust.
4. Success measurement: Make sure that right KPIs are selected to calculate the success as with a high number of orders there comes higher chances of order cancellations with hidden RTO charges that changes the conventional profit calculation.
5. Knowing the competition: It is crucial to identify the competitors. The marketplaces themselves can become a competition during this time. It is crucial to have a strategy in place to tackle the negative impact.

Outro

Indian culture is highly diverse and so does its market. There is always a change in the trends and something new coming up. For this, marketers need to be updated on all the trending topics of the Indian market. This, in the long run can benefit brands with exponential growth. With upcoming festivals, sale events and quick commerce on the rise, marketers get the golden opportunity to expand their brand’s growth. The only crucial part is planning out a perfect strategy and executing it timely.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and Adgully.com does not necessarily subscribe to it.