Brands Hopes For Positive Outcome In This Festival Season

Another year, same COVID-19 pandemic, however, the industry is hoping for a better outcome, amid the ongoing festive season. From markets to online e-commerce giants, all are moving forward after learning lessons from the last year or towards their most profitable period for that matter. 

Suraj Chaudhari, Co-founder of Zlade, a one-stop company for men's and women's grooming products, said, "Festive season is a very big opportunity for brands to start new campaigns as people are looking to shop during this period. You would observe all the big e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart also have mega sales during the festive period. Brands can have multiple strategies and offer exclusive discounts during these periods. Clothing and apparel, personal care, electronics, and home care are attractive categories for consumers during this period."

The brands are cheerful about a better and happy season as far as business and deals are concerned. The deals for specific items have as of now risen, and brands are witnessing a positive sign that they can sustain themselves during the following few months.

Ankit Gaur, General Manager Marketing at  Livpure, a manufacturer of water purifiers, air conditioners, sleep and wellness solutions, said, "Consumers tend to do their major yearly shopping during the festival of Diwali. Be it an automobile, electronic appliance, or a house. Businesses across sectors will see a boom during the festive season, especially with the positive sentiment of the post-COVID era. Companies have started to lure customers with huge discounts and offers. Since a larger chunk of the population has moved to purchase online, the sale activities from companies like Amazon, Flipkart, and many other D2C brands will pick up."

Madhav Kota, Founder, and Director at iGRiD, said, "With the advent of social and online media dissemination of information or communication to consumers has become much faster and efficient. Most companies today use these tools to reach out to their target audience. Targeted dissemination of information, offers, discounts, new launches are the order of the day for most companies. Also, being present in major e-commerce portals and being part of their ‘festival sale events’ also helps them entice customers."

Strategies for this festival season: 

"We are also planning our Diwali sale during 25-31 October where consumers will get Zlade products at prices never seen before. We have also partnered with CRED, Nykaa, Amazon to offer discounts to consumers exclusively for the festive period. We will also offer luxury gift boxes to consumers during the sale," Chaudhari said. 

While talking about the importance of a brand, Gaur said that any brand which does not compromise on its quality and service will create noise in the market through word of mouth. Customers generally get attached to the brand if they have used their products in the past. They tend to buy repeatedly from the same brand because of the good experience they have had previously. 

"Livpure has already started the discounts for people to buy well ahead of the festival season. For our Sleep, Water Purifier, and appliances category, we are running multiple discounts and also cashback offers. We also have no-cost EMI options which will make it easy for the customers to purchase in bulk and pay later.  With up to 70 per cent off on our entire sleep range, and up to 50 per cent off on water purifiers, ACs, and appliances, we are also giving the consumers vouchers from multiple brands that will allow them to do complete shopping for the festive season," Gaur said. 

Kota said that in this festive season we have come out with some festive offers for our consumers, and we are offering some good discounts this festive season. "We are offering more than 50 per cent off on some of our products. We have made strategic tie-ups with e-commerce majors and 1mg for our personal care and health products respectively and created special offers to consumers. Since we belong to the essential product category, we are happy that our consumers have an additional incentive to buy iGRiD essentials for their homes," Kota said.

Revenue in festival season, after dull last year: 

"Festival sales see a jump of about 3 times the order than the year. And this is not limited to the urban crowd. People from all aspects of life make their purchases during the festive season, giving a huge boost to the shopping numbers for everyone," Gaur said. 

While talking about how brand plays an important role when customers purchase any items especially during festival season, Chaudhari said that brand power is shifting from legacy brands to direct to consumer startups, but the brand still is the most important factor while making a purchase.

"Yes, as we have products ranging from personal care and personal care appliances like trimmers which have a higher ticket size, the festive period is a good period for us to target consumers who like to plan their purchases during Diwali. We plan to increase our revenue in the next three months and double the current monthly revenue rate by December," Chaudhari said. 

Kota also said that a big well-known brand is certainly a draw for the consumer, however, today’s consumer is educated and looks for value in every purchase that they do. They compare features, specifications, and take feedback before making any purchase. End of the day the product has to be value for money.

"Festival season is definitely an important time for all businesses. The overall cheer around translates into a significant increase in the revenues and business. For a brand like ours which is present in the “essentials” category, be it the personal care, health devices, or home essentials, our demand is spread across the year," Kota added.

COVID-19 and business in festivals: 

The deadly second wave has impacted Indian business to the core. Meanwhile, there are speculations of a possible third wave of a fresh wave of Covid cases, and brands and advertisers remain mindful of it. After the Coronavirus pandemic hit the country, many customers shifted towards online shopping from their homes. 

"COVID- 19 has already played an important role, as e-commerce adoption has drastically accelerated during this time. Still, the majority of the retail sector is feeling the aftereffects of the second wave, e-commerce has grown multifold. Many people have made their first online purchase during COVID-19, and as these consumers have seen the convenience of ordering from the comfort of their homes, these consumers will keep on increasing their purchases online," Chaudhari said. 

Gaur said, "Although everything in India has opened and the COVID-19 numbers are on a decrease, the pandemic is not over yet. People are still skeptical about going out and shopping. This has boosted online shopping as well."

"The COVID-19 still has an impact on business. The impact is still being felt in the supply chain as today’s businesses are also a factor of global events. As far as the consumer is concerned, the consumer has increased their purchase towards essentials and has reduced their impulse purchases," Kota said.