The fortnight leading up to Diwali, between October 29 and November 11, witnessed an impressive 49% average increase in sales online and a 35% surge in traffic, with conversion rates experiencing an upswing of up to 22%, says a festive season report by global commerce media company Criteo.
Sales also saw a whopping 72% rise just two days before Diwali, said the report.
Diwali sales in 2022 had grown by 17% of that in 2021. Vaishal Dalal, co-founder and director, Excellent Publicity, said, “During Diwali, brands created remarkable advertising campaigns, ensuring sustained excitement throughout the festival period.” A pandemic-free year and World Cup fever also contributed positively to the growth, experts added.
Consumers started the search for festive season purchases at least two weeks before buying the product, said the report. In fact, between July and September, 74% of festive season shoppers had gone through their gift selections and over 50% had already made some purchases, the report revealed.
About 33% initiated their search through online ads, 31% through brand websites and apps, and 28% started searching in physical stores.
AI also proved useful for 99% of respondents. Among the top use cases shared by Indian shoppers are identifying the best price for a product (44%), discovering gift ideas (43%), and seeking information about products they’ve found (39%).
Taranjeet Singh, managing director, enterprise, APAC, Criteo, said, “The significant increase in conversion rates demonstrates the great opportunity that the holiday shopping season presents. Criteo also found that 34% of shoppers who were new buyers during the two weeks approaching the 2022 Diwali made at least one additional purchase from the same retailer between November 2022 and March 2023, demonstrating the possibility of turning new customers into repeat customers.”
Thus, businesses must start preparing early by taking an omnichannel approach, the report suggested.