Over 90% Indian festive shoppers likely to try a new brand; 8 in 10 discovering new brands online: Meta report

93% of Diwali shoppers are likely to try a new brand in the holiday season, and 80% of Diwali shoppers now discover new brands or products online, as per Meta’s Diwali Seasonal Moment 2021 report by YouGov, a Meta-commissioned study.

The report shows that an overwhelmingly large number of festive shoppers are open to trying new brands, products, and offers this Diwali. It also highlights that 79% of all Diwali shoppers have discovered new products and brands on Meta Technologies.

The insights are derived from a Meta commissioned study by YouGov that deep-dives into the evolving consumer trends around festive shopping. 

Among key trends, the report also calls out that the Indian festive shopper is engaging extensively with influencer-led content, short-form videos, messaging, and interactive formats such as AR - all critical to win the interest and attention of the Diwali shopper in 2022.

Arun Srinivas, Director, Global Business Group (India) at Meta, said, “We see optimism flowing into the festive season, which could be a boon for businesses, small and large, amidst a challenging global macroeconomic environment. We’ve already begun a lot of exciting work with businesses of all sizes for their festive season campaigns. Digital has emerged as the strongest touchpoint to reach the consumer, irrespective of whether they choose to close the purchase either online or offline, and Meta technologies are playing a central role in this with 440 million Indians just on Facebook.”

Vishal Jacob - Chief Digital and Transformation Officer- Wavemaker India, said, “The massive digital adoption over the last 2-3 years has significantly altered consumer behaviour, leading brands to rethink how they approach their festive planning. We continue to see digital platforms across social and commerce attract the attention of marketers across categories. Matching audiences with the right communication with a lot of precision becomes key to success, as it helps in breaking the clutter. Facebook and Instagram are apt platforms for this especially for D2C brands."

The key consumer trends as per the report are:  

Consumers are increasingly looking to online to discover new products and brands:

• 93% of Diwali shoppers are likely to try a new brand in the holiday season.
• 80% Of all Diwali shoppers discovered a new brand or product online and 79% of all Diwali shoppers discovered them on Meta Technologies. 
• 68% of Diwali Mega Sales Days shoppers discovered discounts and offers through Meta. 

Influencers are driving purchase decisions for the Diwali shopper:                                        

• 80% of Diwali shoppers engaged with influencer-led content on Meta technologies.
• 53% of Diwali shoppers make discoveries online through influencers. 
• 56% agree that public figures/ celebrities influence their purchase decisions. 

 Short-form videos see strong engagement by festive shoppers:

• More than 50% of surveyed shoppers engage with video content as much or even more during Diwali compared to other times of the year.
• 83% of Diwali shoppers have consumed short user-generated videos on Meta technologies. 

 Real time interaction via messaging helps festive shoppers make a purchase decision:

• 57% Diwali shoppers are more likely to consider purchasing from business if they were able to contact them via instant messaging.
• Meta’s messaging services have been most used to engage with a business in Diwali 2021 - 56% respondents said they had used WhatsApp, and 35% said they had used Messenger and Instagram DM to contact a business.

The Indian festive consumer is seeking interactive experiences during Diwali shopping:      

• 74% believe AR / VR tools would be influential in their holiday purchasing decisions. 
• 70% likely to explore products using tools like AR or VR whilst shopping online during Diwali.

The Diwali shoppers are seeking communication in their language:          

• 53% of Diwali shoppers find it important to have information in their language when shopping.
• 3 in 4 Diwali shoppers prefer seeing adverts in their local language during seasonal shopping.

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