Every day is a sale day as India picks up shopping occasions from the world

Mumbai: Indian shoppers are finding fresh excuses to click ‘Buy Now’, thanks to savvy marketers. The latest is 11.11, or Singles’ Day, on November 11, when brands such as H&M, Puma, Bath & Body Works and Levi’s, along with retailers like Shoppers Stop, offered discounts to turn the Chinese occasion into a shopping event here too.

With retailers looking to beat the usual post-Diwali consumption lull, marketers are creating new shopping festivals – popular in the West – to keep consumers spending.

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Singles’ Day and Thanksgiving are joining the likes of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and open-box sales in India’s expanding promotional calendar, and the scale is growing.

This year, DLF and Oberoi Malls estimated that around half the brands in their malls would participate in Black Friday promotions, while brands at DLF malls reported sales increases of 20-35% during the event.

Novelty Filling Malls

At Shoppers Stop, 20-30% of the brand portfolio usually participates in such events, with sales accelerating 20-25% during promotional periods.

“Consumers do look out for deals and a reason to shop whereby shopping itself becomes an occasion,” said Shibashish Roy, chief executive at Tata-owned electronics retailer Croma, which now counts Black Friday among its major sale events after first starting it five years ago. “The success depends on the gap with Dussehra and Diwali. The spikes are still large city-led but smaller cities have started to buy with aspirations going up.”

The appeal is also translating into higher footfall at malls. Oberoi Realty’s CEO of malls Tanu Prasad said participation by brands has increased year on year, with the short promotional window sometimes bringing weekday footfall up to weekend levels.