Targeted in-app marketing helps advertisers drive more sales during Diwali, says Criteo

Criteo, the advertising platform for the open internet, has identified a few trends for the marketers to rightly advertise during this festive season in its ‘Criteo Diwali Seasonality Report’. For advertisers to make the most of their strategies in the festive season ought to be crucial and thus for them to understand where exactly they can catch the most of the eyeballs, is important.

One of the most important points for marketers that the report has indicated is the strong uplift in retail sales is seen on mobile web and app, three weeks before Diwali. There is going to be 66% uplift in retail sales from apps in the weeks leading up to the festival. And thus, online targeted in-app marketing can help advertisers drive more sales during the season.

“With the rising adoption of m-commerce and huge discounts offered by e-commerce players, Diwali automatically becomes the season of shopping. We are witnessing huge uplift in sales, revenue and online traffic on e-commerce portals. Many factors contribute to this trend, such as the ease of digital payment and the readiness of consumers to try the various payment methods. Huge budgets are specially allocated by brands for advertisements during the Diwali sale period is yet another major factor,” said Kenneth Pao, Executive Managing Director, APAC, Criteo.

The report has suggested marketers to start early and ramp up their shopping campaigns in the weeks leading up to Diwali as it is important to get early visibility. They are advised to be more mobile-friendly as consumers are shopping across various product categories and are increasingly using their smartphones to find the best deals.

Effect of Diwali on retail sales:

The report said that the retail sales pick up before Diwali, and so does website traffic. +91% uplift in online retail sales in the weeks leading up to the festival. Traffic and sales start to pick up in September and reach highs during October. Traffic reaches a peak increase of +101% four weeks prior, and sales peak the week before Diwali.

And thus, marketers are advised to grab early-bird sales and build a profitable pool of shoppers by drawing traffic to their website starting 5-6 weeks ahead of Diwali.

Diwali and mobile apps:

The uplift in sales from app is the highest a month prior to Diwali. App and mobile consistently see the highest surges in the 3 weeks before Diwali. This may be due to consumers having less time to spend on their PCs/laptops during the festival period and looking to their smartphones to complete last-minute purchases.

Up to +66% uplift in retail sales from apps in the weeks leading up to Diwali and up to 29% increase in retail sales from mobile web in the weeks leading up to the festival.

Strong uplift in retail sales is seen on mobile web and app, three weeks before Diwali

And that is why targeted in-app marketing can help advertisers drive more sales during Diwali. To reach valuable mobile shoppers, they should start promoting offers on mobile 4-5 weeks before the festival. 

- A revenue opportunity for the retailers

Conversions increase throughout the sales period until a week prior to Diwali. High average order values are also seen throughout this period. Retailers should bid more aggressively and consistently, and start doing so at least 5-6 weeks before Diwali.

Criteo has found out that there would a revenue opportunity for the retailers, +177% in total. +42% uplift in conversions and +95% uplift in the average order values.

- Retailers are advised to bid aggressively and consistently to stay top of mind

Major shopping periods is a good time to acquire new shoppers. It’s also a good time to get shoppers to return. 40% of shoppers in October were either new or had not been seen in two months, the report mentioned.

- Diwali and Travel

Bookings to India start surging in September and remain high into the second week of October, reaching a peak increase of +48%. Travel to India also sees peaks in the month following Diwali. Travel bookings pick up before Diwali, and so does website traffic

The report has suggested retailers to grab early-bird sales and build a profitable pool of travelers by drawing traffic to the website starting weeks ahead of Diwali.

The platform has analysed 412 million retail shopping transactions and over 23 million flight bookings across desktop, smartphones and tablets from 101 retail and 32 travel advertisers in India.

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