Major contribution from non-metros for e-comm festive season growth: Gopal Asthana

This time of the year marks one of the most crucial periods for businesses as consumer sentiment is at its highest, with spending patterns reflecting the festive spirit. From offers and discounts to large-scale campaigns and personalized engagement, brands are exploring every avenue to stand out in a highly competitive marketplace. The rise of digital marketing and the increasing role of e-commerce have also intensified the focus on omnichannel strategies, ensuring that consumers are met with consistent messaging across both online and offline platforms.

Adgully’s special annual column, FESTIVE MOOD, delves deep into the intricacies of these marketing activities, offering a holistic perspective on the trends that define this season. From ad spend projections to consumer behavior analysis, the column covers all aspects of the festive landscape. It highlights how brands are planning to position themselves, what marketing strategies are being adopted, and how consumer sentiment is shaping the promotional and communication tactics being deployed.

In a year marked by a resurgence of consumer enthusiasm, Gopal Asthana, CEO, Tata CLiQ, shares his insights into the evolving dynamics of the festive season shopping landscape. As consumers increasingly embrace e-commerce for their holiday purchases, Asthana highlights the significant impact of non-metro markets and the younger demographic, particularly Gen Z and women shoppers, in driving this growth.

In this interview with Adgully, he elaborates on Tata CliQ’s strategic approach to festive marketing, including their innovative campaigns and the launch of the ‘House of Utsav’, a curated platform designed to merge tradition with contemporary trends. Asthana also discusses the importance of adapting to the fragmented media consumption landscape and the company’s tailored advertising strategies aimed at maximizing customer engagement.

What are your observations on the overall consumer and market sentiment during the festive season this year?

Consumer sentiment this festive season has been positive. The festive season is generally a high-spending season in the country. When it comes to e-commerce, the consumer sentiment is positive and there is a substantial increase in online shopping which is not just limited to fashion, but there’s also a spike in categories like home, watches, jewellery, and more.

What's more exciting is the significant contribution from non-metro markets, with Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities driving much of this growth for e-commerce. We’ve also seen a sharp increase in participation from younger customers, particularly Gen Z, and women shoppers.

Festive season sales are a major catalyst for growth for the e-commerce sector. These sale events encourage consumers to shop, and it also offers e-commerce platforms an opportunity to engage with existing and attract new customers as well.

Overall, the market sentiment is optimistic, and we anticipate robust growth, fueled by our carefully curated product offerings and seamless online shopping experience.

What forms the core of your festive marketing strategy this year?

We’ve noticed that there is a clear trend towards more planned and intentional purchases. Consumers are now more discerning in their buying behaviour, carefully curating their festive looks and shopping accordingly across various categories. Hence, our festive marketing campaign aims to help consumers celebrate by merging traditions with the latest trends. Our platform, Tata CLiQ, offers a curated selection of looks across various categories for different occasions, whether it’s Durga Puja, Navratri gatherings, or Diwali celebrations.

Could you tell us about your campaign strategy for the festive season?

On Tata CLiQ, we launched ‘House of Utsav,’ a carefully curated one-stop destination for festive shopping. It reflects the emotional and cultural essence of the season while offering contemporary, fashion-forward choices for consumers across categories like ethnic wear, contemporary fusion styles, home décor, serveware, beauty, and more.

We also launched a social media campaign for Durga Puja in September, featuring Bengali actor Madhumita Sarcar and content creator Sonali Mitra, showcasing a range of styles available at the ‘House of Utsav’ Durga Puja store on the platform, all designed for the season’s celebrations.

The flagship festive sale, 10/10, went live on Tata CLiQ on October 3, 2024, with exciting offers on a wide range of brands and categories. The response has been encouraging, with categories like men’s apparel, watches, beauty, and fashion jewellery driving significant growth for the platform.

Given the increasing fragmentation of media consumption, how are you allocating festive ad budgets across different platforms?

With the media landscape evolving rapidly, our approach to ad budgets has become much more nuanced and tailored to ensure we effectively reach our customers across various touchpoints. We’ve embraced a diversified media strategy that balances ATL channels with a significant emphasis on digital and social platforms. Apart from focussing our efforts on assortment strategy, personalisation is also a key component in our approach. We are doing this by tailoring our messaging to align with customer sentiment and the unique dynamics of each market.

This enables us to create high-impact, memorable interactions with our customers, ensuring that our festive campaigns resonate and drive strong engagement throughout the season.