Enhancing online and offline shopping during the festive season

From the traditional Diwali shopping I used to see in a very conversative Chennai back in the 1980s, to today’s quick-commerce fuelled binge, one thing hasn’t changed about festive shopping: the consumer mind-state of “this is the season to treat myself and have a good time”. OND (as the 3 critical months are referred to by most businesses) is make-or-break, and if done well, ends up resetting the baseline for the upcoming year, too. Amid this frenzy, however, it’s important to remember that more today than ever, people are seeking experiences that they can cherish, brag about and feel good about. Imagining and delivering those experiences requires a deep understanding of the need-state(s) of the consumer during this time. Here are four things that we at Plum have learnt over the years.

Discounts? Duh!

In the last decade, festive e-commerce shopping was all about the “D” word – discounts. Remember the multi-page jacket ads on newspapers with eye-popping offers as the sole reason to splurge? While online sales communications are still led by discounts, two key factors are at play that blunt the edge of discounting alone to grow revenue this season. One, the availability of discounts and offers through the year, and two, premiumization and the willingness + ability to pay more for better experiences. Sure, there can be optical markdowns, but consumers have also grown smarter. Combine that with profitability pressures on the supply side, and it’s safe to say that discounts will slowly stop delivering the “kicker” during the season. So, what can take the place of discounts? 

Eternal excitement of the new

The human mind is programmed to seek out the new. And in a premiumizing market, people are getting their dopamine rush by telling themselves (and others) that not only are they cool enough to spot the next trending bottle of essence or moisturizer, they can also afford it, and a large pack at that. Brands that invest in consumer understanding, capability building and supply chain readiness through the non-festival months are best placed to capitalize on this rush during the season. Give me a couple of trending products that actually deliver an awesome consumer experience this season and I’ll happily let go of the BOGO offer that I anyway shopped a couple of months ago during your monsoon sale!

Leveraging data to personalize

Staying with the need to deliver great experiences - this is also a great time to reconnect with one’s loyal customers and give them an omnichannel pampering. A loyal website customer to be invited for a game show at my exclusive store? Sure! A free pampering sesh for my top-spender at the salon next door in the mall? Nice idea! A vanilla-scented candle set for our most engaged social media fans? Whoa. There a million ways to offer valuable, special experiences to people at a time when they are in a mood to be pampered. All it takes is a sound data backbone, some imagination and advance planning. Jacket ads in newspapers screaming offers on everything from pots & pans to lipstick? Well, the premiumizers have moved on.

Delight me, quick

Bringing about behavioural change is very, very hard and typically takes long. But behavioural change running ahead of the industry’s ability to keep pace? Now that’s rarer, but we’re seeing that happen with quick commerce. I had picked up a largish spot of grease on my shirt a couple of days ago, which my office security thankfully pointed out. I checked for shirts on all the quick commerce apps and only one of them sold shirts (delivered in 10 minutes – and the white shirt did get me compliments). That one platform alone had evolved faster than the evolution of my behaviour away from waiting for the nearby mall to open. Similarly, gifting is now beginning to mainstream to last-minute pick-me-ups on quick commerce. Most mainline e-commerce platforms are scaling up same day, next day deliveries for most items. Enhancing delight by delivering at speed without compromising on variety or quality, is something that’s going to offer a lot of juice for brands and retailers to grow well into the future. The integration of the online catalogue into the offline store, with a quick delivery bolted on, is blurring the lines between offline retail, e-commerce and quick commerce. Sure sounds like fun!

As a brand owner, festive season is as exciting as it’s stressful. The emergence of multiple ways to delight the customer other than by just offering crazy discounts, is making our jobs more interesting and fulfilling. And one person deserves all the gratitude for bringing this about. Thank you, dear shopper. Wish you great joy and happiness this festive season!

This article is penned by Shankar Prasad, Founder & CEO, Plum.

Disclaimer: The article features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the stance of the publication.