Holi is one of the most popular seasonal festivals in India.

Therefore, it is not surprising that a large number of eCommerce companies usually come up with ingenious ways to adopt the mood of Holi during this season, and encourage people to shop more. They customize their sites, roll out specific product marketing campaigns that highlight Holi specials, discounts, and bargain pricing strategies.

This invariably strikes an emotional chord with the people, and the brands utilize the occasion to connect and increase their brand salience, thereby selling more products. Holi, not only helps enhance the brand value of these eCommerce companies in the long run, but also provides the best profit point for short-term market demand.

What is Holi?

Holi is the traditional Hindu festival of colors that marks the advent of spring.  It is a festival to celebrate love, fertility, and color, which is why it is mostly known for the throwing of colored powder called gulal. There is plenty of fun, music, and delicious food all around.

This year India will celebrate Holi, on the evening of 1 March.

The first day, known as the Chhoti Holi, begins on a full moon, where people gather around a bonfire and pray for the annihilation of evil. The second day, or Rangwali Holi, is when people celebrate the festival of colors. People, dress in white, and go out and smear colored powered on one another in a celebration of love and goodness.

Consumer Spending Trends During Holi

It is rather difficult to isolate specific spending patterns during Holi. People just want to celebrate, and generally, buy just about anything they like.

Nonetheless, generic products that sell well during this period include apparels, jewelry, electronic items, and footwear. Besides, Indian eCommerce retailers are discovering new ways to cater to Holi shoppers with compelling Holi specific advert, combined with fantastic discounts.

eCommerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal, have such compelling promotional Holi marketing campaigns, which a smaller eCommerce retailer finds really hard to beat. For instance, the Holi Sale for 2018 from Flipkart offers nearly 80% off in all major categories. This includes niche vertical of Holi supplies including Holi gifts, colors, sprays and more.

Amazon too has unbelievable discount offers. Therefore, it is not surprising that people tend to buy just about anything during the Holi season.

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eCommerce is Dominating

But, if you are a small company, a strong and expanding advertising network can help your eCommerce Business to cash in on the Holi opportunity. 50% of Indian marketplace was dominated by eCommerce segments during the recent festive season. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Holi season would be a huge market segment. This is projected to rise further keeping in mind, the colossal rise in internet usage.

Prepare For a Surge in Sales

It is no surprise that apparel and footwear industry record nearly 40% of their sales during this festive season. So, if you are an eCommerce company, you better be prepared to handle this sudden surge in sales.

A successful festive Holi season requires the right promotional strategy, marketing efforts, merchandising and a swift supply chain plan.Failure in any of the departments would result in the customer moving to browse or shop from the next site.

Identifying The Holi Buying Pattern

Google’s Guest Editor, and Unilever’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Keith Weed, emphasized that the omnipresence of technology has completely revised the concept of branding, marketing, inventiveness, creativity, and retail.

The desktop has become passé and has been taken over by the mobile phone. Each consumer’s buying pattern is monitored, and his or her choice is often made utilizing AI (artificial intelligence), thereby eliminating the need for identifying specific market segments. And there’s no difference in India, where there are already 530 million smartphone users, making the mobile dominance unrivaled.

An excellent way to announce your BIG offer is to send a Push Notification ad – a new, non-intrusive ad format that allows you to send millions of messages within a minute. These notifications are delivered even when a user is not browsing your website or interacting with an app. It’s especially important knowing that your potential customers won’t be sitting near their desktops during the festival season, but rather would be outdoors enjoying the holiday. In other words, Push Notifications are the format to focus on during big events.

It is evident that the mobile has begun to unlock consumer control, consent, and selection to a level that we have never perceived, propelling a divisional breakdown. It has also commenced rewriting marketing and communication fundamentals, thereby replacing the bond between brands and people completely.

Summing up, how to improve the Holi eCommerce experience?

A Fast Holi eCommerce Strategy

1. Focus on the Basics

Put the consumer first. As marketers generally focus on diversity, a larger prospect pool means more potential business. Leverage data and try understand the Holi buyer perception. Build brand love by a meaningful Holi advert. People want an idea or something that they could relate to. By the way, here are some useful tips on how to make your banners more clickable and your landing pages more effective.

Once the idea is clear, brands get to conceive engaging experiences, which survive a much longer and deeper consumer exchange, than a customary Holi promotion.

2. Harness the Power of Social Media

Identify influencers in the segment that you propose to market. On an average, micro-influencers actually experience higher engagement than macro-influencers, and are considered to be peers more than celebrities are.

Come up with some fun ways to link your product or service with the Holi seasonal content. According to Statista, you should concentrate on the 3 Social Media channels that are leading in the Indian social space: Facebook, Youtube, WhatsApp.

3. Turn to Search Commerce

Be active with shopping search engines, where shoppers can discover the best products and prices. For example, Junglee (by Amazon), Skoov, Pricedekho, Shoppingwish, ThisYaThat and CompareIndia. As today’s tech-augmented consumer instinctively turns to their device to act upon a need, the Holi buying pattern will largely be dominated by mobiles, and artificial intelligence (AI). In other words, with such an overwhelming growth in mobile eCommerce segment, shopping search engines should become one of the first points of contact between you and your potential customers.

Wish you a Happy and Colorful Holi!