Interestingly, companies too are betting big on their digital play led by the growth in the last few months50% consumers are likely to increase their festive spends this year, a report by MMA, GroupM and Amazon Advertising, revealed. And so, companies too are pinning their hopes of revival on this festive season by rolling out offers to ramp up demand. Panasonic India, for instance, has launched its festive campaign ‘Grand Delight’ to provide promotional offers, extended warranties, and consumer finance offers such as zero down payment, long-term EMI schemes, and up to 12 months of no-cost EMI. “We have seen a growth of 25% in sales during August 2021 compared to the previous year. We are hoping to maintain the growth momentum throughout the festive season to make up for losses due to the pandemic,” Manish Sharma, president and CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia, told BrandWagon Online.
LG Electronics India has launched a range of products like OLED TVs, Instaview side by side refrigerators, washer dryers, charcoal microwave ovens, dual inverter ACs, gram laptops, among others. According to Deepak Bansal, vice president, corporate planning, LG Electronics India, due to work-from-home (WFH), people spent more time at home, so their experience with durable products increased which has created a need for upgradation of existing products. “There is continuous increase in demand for premium products across categories such as bigger size refrigerators, washing machines, TVs. Categories with low penetration like dishwashers and microwaves have witnessed good traction and registered high growth,” he added.
The festive season accounts for 25-30% of the overall sales of consumer durables companies. While the last 18 months impacted the industry to a great extent, there has been a strong rebound in business in the last two months, as per industry experts. Moreover, the share of online in the overall business has gone up to 10-15% now from about 5-6% pre-pandemic. The share of online is likely to go up to 18-20% in the coming months as more consumers get comfortable buying higher value products online, Rajat Wahi, partner, Deloitte India, said. “After-sale services such as installations, warranties, quality, and on-time delivery through local distributors can be a huge play in the online space. Direct to consumer model is also emerging as a strong play,” he said, adding that categories such as TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, will continue to see a strong growth led by the pandemic.
Interestingly, companies too are betting big on their digital play led by the growth in the last few months. “Two years back, digital used to be around 10% of our overall media investment, today it has reached 25%. We will also continue to drive our omnichannel presence within the category, by leveraging digital and activations. Within digital, our thrust on reach, social, programmatic, and e-commerce will continue this year,” Pradeep Bakshi, managing director and CEO, Voltas Limited, said. The brand has also introduced multiple finance offers which include cashback up to 15% on select credit cards, and easy EMI finance offer through NBFCs, as part of its festive offers.
Meanwhile, Usha International has planned a campaign with its brand ambassador Keerthy Suresh and will leverage an omnichannel strategy to reach out to the audience. “This year, we will spend 50% higher on marketing during the festive season. 30-35% of our spends will be skewed towards the digital medium,” Saurabh Baishakhia, president, appliances, Usha International, added. As per industry stakeholders, as social distancing is bound to remain as the new norm, digital spends will continue to go up as more people end up searching and making purchases online. For Bakshi, in case we do not witness another lockdown this festive season, all categories will start gaining the lost grounds, and make up for the muted consumer sentiments witnessed in the first quarter of this fiscal.
Read Also: The Sleep Company increases marketing spends by eight times to Rs 8 crore in FY22
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook
Get live Stock Prices from BSE, NSE, US Market and latest NAV, portfolio of Mutual Funds, Check out latest IPO News, Best Performing IPOs, calculate your tax by Income Tax Calculator, know market’s Top Gainers, Top Losers & Best Equity Funds. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
BrandWagon is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest brand news and updates.
