The highly anticipated 2024 festive season is here! And with this comes one of the biggest opportunities for brands to capture the pending consumer demand and accelerate growth with a huge opportunity for expansion. The potential to dominate this season and lay the foundation for long-term success is immense. The stakes have never been higher 

The festive rush isn’t just about sales—it’s about creating a lasting impact. Success hinges on a combination of creativity and data-driven insights. It’s important to embrace unique tactics that reflect the evolving landscape of consumer behavior. By understanding what drives today’s consumers—be it personalized experiences or community engagement—brands are tailoring their offerings to meet the specific needs of their audience.   

Brands are optimistic about the upcoming festive season and are implementing a multi-channel strategy to boost sales. For example, premium products are being showcased through offline modern trade outlets (both multi-brand and exclusive brand) and direct-to-consumer (D2C) online channels to maintain a sense of exclusivity. At the same time, mid-range products are being promoted across e-commerce marketplaces to maximize reach and appeal to an aspirational customer base. And, general trade continues to be the preferred channel to push mass products into deeper pockets of the country. 

While in our previous article on Festive 2024: Unveiling India’s Grand Consumption Revival, we spoke at length about how this year consumer confidence is coming back that there is a positive outlook as a whole, and how brands, E-commerce platforms, and consumers are waiting to reap the rewards after a weathering the challenges of the last year, in this article we shall attempt to decode brands’ strategies to maximize the festive potential offered by e-commerce. 

E-commerce: Key platform for brands

As brands look to capitalize on the festive demand, many are strategically leveraging e-commerce platforms to cater to the aspirational customers’ needs and reach the relatively less accessible tier 2+ customers. As a result, they look to partner deeply with the leading platforms to attract customers via lucrative discounts & offers available at large-scale festive events.  

Additionally, online platforms are offering a variety of incentives and support mechanisms to brands. These include sponsorships, prime ad placements, growth-linked waivers, price subsidies, and analytical tools to identify top-selling products. 

With creative affordability models and the extra backing from these platforms, the e-commerce sector is poised for substantial growth, anticipating a 20% year-on-year increase and exceeding INR 100,000 crore in Gross Merchandise Value 

Tapping into pent-up consumer demand 

Mobiles and electronics have long been the leading categories during festive sales, as customers typically wait for the year’s best collection & offers on these items. However, this year, there is anticipation for high pent-up demand in fashion as well. Online fashion’s BAU performance has been slightly subdued, however, with brands undertaking focused efforts to push the right selection & pricing, they seem well-placed to unlock the pent-up demand in the category. 

Fusion and ethnicity are likely to be the key verticals to enable this unlock. In line with the fast fashion wave, brands are also looking to push new & trendy collections, specifically for the festive period, aiming to capitalize on occasion-driven shopping. This strategic push is designed to attract consumers seeking fresh & trendy options for celebrations. 

Across categories, brands are set to offer substantial direct discounts to enable affordability for customers and drive higher sales. While discounts will vary across all price segments, higher-priced items will likely see aggressive discounts.  

Premiumization wave 

This season is expected to see a continued shift towards premiumization in consumer preferences, with brands introducing innovative promotional offers like exchange deals and bundle discounts on high-end products to encourage purchases of higher-ticket items. A significant focus will be placed on bundled promotions, like offering free soundbars with televisions or earphones with premium mobile phones, all designed to elevate the purchase of high-margin products.  

Further, brands are set to offer additional incentives to further boost order sizes, with offers like 10% off on purchases over ₹10,000 and 20% off for orders exceeding ₹20,000. These strategies are designed to enhance customer spending and maximize sales during the festive period.  

Growing adoption of Quick Commerce 

In line with the ongoing rapid growth spree, q-commerce platforms are anticipating ~100% YoY growth in the festive period). Traditionally, quick commerce has done well to push festive collections in the FMCG & beauty category, through combo boxes and gifting items such as chocolates & bouquets, sweets, dry fruits, and food & beverages. However, this season,  verticals such as home appliances, beauty gadgets, and smaller electronics are likely to be pushed aggressively.  

Willing to Refine Your Brand’s E-commerce Strategy? 

With the rapid evolution of online platforms—spanning horizontal and vertical e-commerce, value commerce, and quick commerce—it is essential to optimize your brand’s strategy across various e-commerce types to maximize its potential. Redseer meticulously analyzes strategies, providing critical insights that differentiate global leaders from their Indian counterparts, helping to shape effective approaches for navigating market complexities. 

With a deep understanding of local market dynamics and the evolving digital landscape, Redseer helps brands tailor their offerings to meet consumer needs and craft strategies that enhance customer experiences across multiple touchpoints, driving long-term success.