Shoppers Stop’s Shwetal Basu shares insights behind Diwali campaign

Social Samosa speaks to Shoppers Stop’s Shwetal Basu, who shares the insights behind the brand's Diwali campaign, media strategy, and how consumer sentiment has changed this Diwali.

After two years of lull, brands are going all out to celebrate Diwali this year. For the omnichannel retail chain Shoppers Stop, which houses more than 500 brands, Diwali is an important period. It recently released a campaign called ‘Nayi Diwali, Nayi Soch’ which shares a take on how gifting patterns are evolving among modern Indian families. 

From gifting makeup kits to your grandma and encouraging women to wear what they like, the campaign nudges consumers to put more thought into their gifts and break stereotypes.

Divided into four advertisements, the retail chain’s campaign targets families that are traditional in values and progressive in their outlook. Featuring Yami Gautam in two of its ads, the campaign shows how gifts go a long way in expressing love and care for your loved ones. 

With its recent campaigns, Shoppers Stop has been trying to position itself as the gifting destination for consumers of all age groups. 

While in conversation with Social Samosa, Shwetal Basu, Customer Care Associate and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Shoppers Stop says that the brand has stuck to its positioning around progressive thinking in the Diwali campaign.

“Gifting, as a moment, from a consumer insight is extremely big during Diwali. So it's all about how you can connect with family members, colleagues, and with your near and dear ones. Today, every family is changing their thought process trying to connect with the younger generation and the younger generations are trying to connect with the older generations, and here there’s an element of progressive thinking between them, so we've stuck to our entire brand positioning around progressive thinking,” said Basu. 

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The campaign is live across multiple platforms like digital, print, out-of-home, and in-cinema. 

After the pandemic, fashion retailers have become one of the biggest beneficiaries of revenge shopping. Consumers are making up for the lost time and celebrating little wins, despite facing inflationary pressures. 

“People have started shopping because it's after two years that they are really stepping out freely, enjoying every moment of every festival, it's more than revenge shopping, it's all about getting a chance to celebrate in person and the way you want after a long time. That's also driving a lot of shopping behavior,” said Basu. 

Shoppers Stop has also upped its advertising spends to catch up with returning demand. 

“Not just during the festive time, we have been consistently spending on various types of advertising during the year, which has definitely helped us bring back the visibility for the brand in the mind of the customers. We have been doing a lot of campaigns, events, and activities inside the store and outside as well,” said Basu. 

For the rest of the year, Basu said that Shoppers Stop will continue to focus on creating personalized experiences for its loyal consumers, which is now in the range of 8.5 million customers.