Marketers gear up for festive shopping spree with reworked blitzkrieg

The research also unveils significantly higher brand loyalty, compared to last year’s Diwali shopping. Within the top three product categories where consumers demonstrate the strongest loyalty, a notable 74 per cent of consumers will stick to the same brand when purchasing health and personal care products, which is an increase of 23 per cent compared to last year

India will invariably shine brighter in the second half of the year as it celebrates diverse kinds of festivals, each of which showcases its rich culture and heritage. While consumer behavior in the country is evolving quickly along with the rest of the world, what stays unchanged for the festive consumers is their unwavering enthusiasm for celebrating it on a merry note.

Around 84% of Indians plan to increase their spending during the holiday season. Additionally, rapidly altering online and offline buying trends due to multiple lockdowns have made consumers develop a preference for hybrid shopping during festive times. This will mean that it could be a challenge for advertisers to keep track of the changing habits of diverse shoppers.

New data shows approximately 70 per cent of Indians are ready to spend more this Diwali, representing a marked 35 per cent increase from last year, according to the third Festive Pulse Survey, conducted by global advertising technology leader The Trade Desk. The planned increase in consumer spend is led primarily by consumers’ bullish view that their financial situation has improved (53 per cent), and the eagerness of the consumers to celebrate a lot more this year (49 per cent).

The new research indicates that growing trends will drive larger festive sales this year, giving brands the opportunity to build advertising campaigns tailored to consumer interests and preferences as the biggest shopping season of the year approaches.

The surge in optimism is driving increased consumer spend, with a significant majority expressing an interest in purchasing luxury goods and apparel (84 percent) and gold (80 per cent). Amongst those who plan to spend more, 68 per cent said they are more likely to increase spending on new clothes, 65 per cent on gold and jewellery, 64 per cent on Diwali food items and gifts on family and 64 per cent on friends and colleagues.

“This year's Diwali is shaping up to be the most significant shopping season ever. People are gearing up to celebrate more and splurge accordingly,” said Tejinder Gill, General Manager, India, The Trade Desk. “To make the most of this opportunity, marketers should focus on building trust to engage customers with relevant advertising campaigns that reach them at the right place at the right time. The Trade Desk is empowering marketers to make smarter media decisions for the festive season and for the long term, whilst helping them track campaign performance to drive business growth effectively.”

An always-on branding strategy is the key to engage consumers. When shopping for Diwali, more than half (58 per cent) of Indians consider themselves to be planned shoppers, while almost half (45 per cent) regard brand trust as an important factor in their shopping preferences.

The research also unveils significantly higher brand loyalty, compared to last year’s Diwali shopping. Within the top three product categories where consumers demonstrate the strongest loyalty, a notable 74 per cent of consumers will stick to the same brand when purchasing health and personal care products, which is an increase of 23 per cent compared to last year. While 69 per cent of consumers will do so on consumer electronics, there is an increase of 30 per cent and 65 percent for makeup and fragrances, an increase of 27 per cent from last year. Indian consumers are least likely to hold strong brand affinity for toys, games, and collectibles (50 per cent), home and living (50 per cent) and travel (47 per cent). Marketers who employ an always-on strategy can help enhance brand affinity by maintaining consistent connections with their audience.

The open internet provides an opportune place for brands to advertise, and over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms are garnering notable traction. The majority of respondents (61 per cent) express a willingness to research a product online if they like the ads shown on this channel. Furthermore, people aged 25 to 40 years exhibit a larger appetite for ads on OTT platforms, as half of them (51 per cent) reportedly pay attention to ads on the channel. Concurrently, 43 per cent said they direct their attention towards ads on news, websites and blogs.

The survey was conducted online by research firm Milieu amongst a nationally representative sample of 1,000 India adults, fielded in June. All data was weighted by age and gender to reflect the latest Indian population estimates.

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