E-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, and Paytm are gearing up to launch their festive sales 2017 and CashKaro.com has analyzed past trends to identify marketing strategies these e-commerce websites will use to amplify their sales during this period.
CashKaro.com is India’s largest Cashback & Coupons site and essentially the one-stop-destination for all online savings. Launched in 2013, it was founded by Swati Bhargava and Rohan Bhargava, a young entrepreneur couple who left their lucrative Investment Banking jobs in London to start the Cashback business in the UK (Pouring Pounds) & then expanded it to India.
Incentivizing Wallet Payments
By capitalizing on the cashless wave, payment through self-funded mobile wallets has become a widely used strategy. Customers paying through these wallets receive exclusive discounts from e-commerce companies.
Recently, Amazon launched its Pay Balance feature which allowed customers to pay instantly with pre-loaded Amazon Pay wallets. As an introductory offer, Amazon gave 15 per cent Cashback of up to Rs 450 to its Prime Members who paid using Pay Balance. Regular shoppers received 10 per cent Cashback of up to Rs 300.
Similarly, this year Flipkart launched an Independence Day offer wherein 1,947 shoppers who paid through the Flipkart owned PhonePe app, won Rs 71 Cashback on their transactions.
Bank Tie-Ups To Increase
Another technique of providing exclusive offers to shoppers has been through tie-ups with banks. Customers pay using bank cards and get access to discounts that are added to pre-existing festive offers. Flipkart frequently partners with SBI and Amazon with Axis Bank, ICICI, CITIBANK and more.
Fewer App-Only Offers
Last year online stores were providing better discounts to App only users instead of Desktop users. While a few websites are still doing this, most e-commerce players will likely offer the same deals on their Mobile App, Desktop and Mobile sites. The trend of App only offers will thus decline this festive season.
Cashback Reign Continues
Retailers are now offering extra discounts by partnering with Cashback websites. Users prefer shopping through Cashback websites that offer extra Cashback on top of ongoing discounts. This in turn helps e-commerce websites because their sales are promoted by the Cashback website; making this a triple-win situation.
The Cart Strategy Rises
Apart from these conventional methods of driving more sales to their websites, online stores are also opting for more personalized methods of reaching out to consumers. One such idea has been to reach out to shoppers with abandoned carts through social media or emails. Shoppers are often given higher discounts to complete these transactions.
Social Media Play
Similarly, social media features like the ‘Shop’ feature on Facebook and ‘Swipe Up’ feature on Instagram are being utilized to attract shoppers. Flipkart is one such store that regularly uses the ‘Shop’ feature to give customers an option to shop directly through their Facebook page.
The VIP Shopper Treatment
Finally, online stores offer special discounts to loyal customers by creating loyalty programs such as VIP clubs which function as active groups on social media websites such as Facebook. Consumers registered with these VIP clubs get early access to sales and better deals while they shop. Myntra launched the Myntra Shopping Groups contest during their End Of Reason Sale this year and offered extra rewards to shoppers who invited their friends and family to shop during the sale.
In the coming months, we can expect most e-commerce websites to adopt one or more of these marketing strategies to make their big sales even bigger. It’s time for online shoppers to begin making their shopping lists as the best time to shop and save is upon us.
Most e-commerce players will likely offer the same deals on their Mobile App, Desktop and Mobile sites in 2017
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