Consumption patterns have changed significantly during the festive season so far, led by lockdown restrictions and lifestyle changes.
“India has gone into the unlock phase and profit-making activity has normalised to a certain extent. Major players across sectors are expecting a sizable demand to be back on track in this festive season,” says a Snapbizz report titled SnapPulse.
COVID-19 era has changed the way consumers purchased their groceries in the following ways:
– what they bought (product mix),
– how they bought (frequency of
– purchases/visits, size of each purchase) and
– from whom they bought (online/ offline).
“Due to the COVID-19 situation, we are seeing that the consumers are making certain trade-offs in terms of spends during the festive season. Due to the lockdown/ movement restrictions/ lifestyle changes, they are spending more on certain categories and reducing their spending on certain categories for the festivals,” the report further reads.
Gifting – An Intrinsic Feature of Festive Season
The festive season is a time of spreading joy and happiness and gifting has become an intrinsic feature of this season. Festive season, through the medium of gifting, helps in nourishing our connections and this is a theme that plays across all product categories.
Both retailers and manufacturers aver that gifts have come to occupy an important part in our lives and gifting builds human relationships.
According to a report by InMobi, “This year, Indian consumers will spend Rs 15,000 on an average, the majority of whom plan to increase their budgets from the last year. Despite the pandemic, this presents a tremendous opportunity for retailers to connect and engage with their existing and potential customers.”
As consumer today have high expectations and at the same time are looking forward to innovation in terms of new line of gifting options in place, retailers, brands and manufacturers hope to do significantly more business than in the regular months and are nursing high hopes from the ensuing festive season in terms of better sales traction, consumer connect, branding, etc.
Shoppers enjoy the mass festive sales as many of them hunt for good bargains and merrily part with their money in festive cheer. To meet this trend, retailers will be brimming with new items and will see the return of favorite hot sellers from last year to
satisfy the overall gifting needs. The stores will also be decked up during this period to convey the joy, happiness and spirit of the season.
Food Category: Offering a Plethora of Gifting Options
Food has always been a popular gifting category irrespective of any season. Sales of food items have always been very profitable during the festival season. The credit for higher sales during the period is due to the exciting range of products alongside attractive offers by retailers. Not surprising that retailers, manufacturers and brands are focusing on coming out with attractive gift packs and new product launches.
The festive season is also important for F&B companies to assess their future sales and growth plans. Their focus is going to be on new product launches in the branded category to attract consumers. Many companies use festivals as a connection moment with consumers to launch new packs.
With gifting being an indispensable part of the festive season, gifting in the food category has traditionally been dominated by sweets, dried fruits and chocolates. However, in recent years, the gifting segment has grown and expanded considerably
and now includes myriad product categories, even within the food segment. No wonder that markets suddenly come alive with an array of ‘giftables’ during the festive months. Though the season continues to be strongly dominated by sweets, chocolates, dry fruits and snacks, sales of non-traditional products like tortilla packs, exotic teas, coffee and fruits, jams, honey, saffron, marshmallows, crackers, sauces, wines, etc, have picked up sharply in recent years.
Today, gift-ready packs, high on hygiene and variety, have successfully engaged the consumers, and helped companies like Nestle, Britannia, Perfetti, Mondelez gain a bigger market share during the festive season.
Consumer gifting in food space is a very big market and growing at a very healthy rate. Therefore, in spite of competition, brands with good positioning and differentiators are growing quite well. While most brands continue to focus on quality and packaging and on new promotions to create excitement with the trade and the consumers, they are also focusing on developing value offerings and product lines with the affordability mindset in order to drive higher sales.
FMCG companies like PepsiCo, Parle, CocaCola are gearing up to offer innovative gift products during the festive season, apart from their regular product offerings. New product innovation, creating consumer mindset about new products, enhancing the reach through both e-tail and retail, designing variety options, and bundling products based on consumer preference are the focus areas for players wishing to tap new consumer segments during the long festive season.
Festive Gifting: What is in Vogue?
Customers are moving towards gift items that are personalized, classy, have a good shelf life, and which come in attractive packaging. The gifting industry in India has registered a strong growth over the past decade thanks to rising income levels and aspirations. The evolution of the Indian customer has played a key role in bringing about this change, as this customer has both the willingness and the ability to pay for innovative products. The surge in economic growth, rising disposable incomes and aspirations, increasing exposure to global trends, and long-distance gifting are some of the factors bringing about this shift towards premium upgrades.
At the same time, personal gifting is on the rise and an ever-higher number of occasions are being added to the tally. The consumers of today want a touch of style, uniqueness, and personalization in their gift items, in order to match their status.
The market is currently experiencing a revolution, with new product innovations, both in the food and nonfood segment, accompanied by attractive packaging. Food gifting has a wider ambit and includes innovative hampers for such occasions as birthday, festivals, etc. as well as various product types including fruit hampers, cookies, organic food, coffee and tea, cheese and meat hampers, wine, different types of cheese, jams and jellies, etc.
Festive Gifting: Trends
Visual appeal: Brands have also used attractive packaging to bring about this transition among consumers. Most of the decisions about food gifting items take place in stores and packaging plays a key role in these fast, split-second decisions. Increasingly, companies are innovating with their packaging to underline their premium nature, adherence to food protection and safety standards, dynamism, the spirit of the occasion, etc. Given the importance of packaging in promoting sales, companies hire design teams and artists to create the right concept. Design, colors, and imagery play a vital role in this design process.
Readily Available: It is worthwhile to note that only those companies that pay attention to their supply chain can reap exponential benefits during the festivity period. The adage ‘supply creates its own demand’ can come true in the festive season with companies whose products are readily available scoring higher in terms of customer preference.
A Click Away: Another trend, which largely mirrors other categories, is the rising importance of e-commerce in the gifting space. Large e-commerce companies like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal have specific sections dedicated to gifting. At the same time, most players in the offline space are widening their online presence to capture the online gifting space. The offerings on
these websites include bakery products, assorted chocolates, confectionary, dry fruits, sweets, and other gourmet products, apart from other categories like flowers, jewellery, watches, etc.
With so much at stake and so much to look forward to during the months ahead, the festive season this year has lots of promise in store for all – producers, consumers and retailers. In the pages to follow, read about what retailers and brands are proposing to do this festive season to woo consumers and make them shop like crazy.