Drive brand discovery now to tap festive shoppers in India: Facebook

NEW DELHI: More than three in four consumers (74 per cent) in India will begin shopping at least two weeks before Diwali, mostly on their smartphones, and Facebook and Instagram that influence nearly 80 per cent of festive shopping especially by Gen-Z and millennials can help brands build targeted campaigns based on current consumer trends, the social networking giant revealed in a report on Wednesday.

Festive shopping can be a positive outlet for businesses in these pandemic-hit times so the mantra is to start advertising early, utilising resources like video, augmented reality (AR), influencers, vernacular content and messaging to further drive the brand discovery, revealed Facebook's 'Festive Playbook'.

Forty-five per cent millennials prefer shopping early for the festive season and there is a 17 per cent increase in spending by early shoppers in the country.

"There is finally an uptick in the shopping mindsets of the consumers after several months of stay-at-home and social distancing times and saving for an uncertain future," Sandeep Bhushan, Director and Head of Global Marketing Solutions (GMS) by Facebook India, told IANS.

"With over 400 million Indians connected on the Facebook family of apps in India, we will play a consequential role this festive season in both brand discovery and delivering truly incremental business outcomes," Bhushan noted.

The shopping season will extend to beyond Diwali — with Christmas and Republic Day Sales extending the festive season and encouraging continued 'holiday shopping' and 'self gifting'.

The pandemic, said Facebook research, has triggered an increase in mobile usage.

The 'Festive Playbook' found that there has been over a 16 per cent increase in smartphone time and festive shoppers across age groups connect on the Facebook Family of apps for the discovery and evaluation of products. (IANS)

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