Festive East: How Bata is gearing for a bumper shopping fest

With Dussehra/ Durga Puja just a few days away, the country is in the throes of festive fervour. After no Dussehra/ Durga Puja celebrations last year due to the pandemic, consumers and brands are looking at a return to markets with a vengeance. With the vaccination drive gathering momentum and most of the COVID-19 restrictions lifted, there is a general air of optimism. Offices, market places, educational institutions, malls and cinema halls – all have now opened, giving people a sense of return to normalcy.

Like the rest of India, the East and North-East markets are in a resurgent mood. Durga Puja is the biggest festival in West Bengal and Tripura and is also celebrated extensively in Assam and other parts of the North-East. Markets are seeing the return of shoppers, and some marketers see a revenge shopping trend gaining precedence. Amid COVID-29 protocols, the shopping frenzy is just beginning and will only increase as the Pujo nears. Experts believe that this is not just revenge shopping, but also a re-assertion and reclaiming of a life that one was living before the pandemic struck.

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This festive season, Adgully turns the spotlight on the East and North-East markets and will speak to a cross-section of brands, marketers and market experts to gauge the mood of the shoppers and brand sentiments.

As part of this initiative, Adgully spoke to Anand Narang, VP - Marketing and Consumer Experience, Bata India, to find out what the brand has planned for the festive season this year.

What kind of sentiments do you see in the East markets during this festive season? Are these sentiments close to the pre-COVID-19 levels?

Festive season is always big for us and now with reduction in COVID-19 cases and ease in restrictions, customers are getting more used to the idea of living with the pandemic, and are gradually getting back to their normal lives. Most people have started their Pujo shopping and we are witnessing an increase in footfalls across our stores in the East.

Post pandemic, casualisation has been the dominant trend. We continue to witness increased traction for our casual and active wear range. Accordingly, we have realigned our focus as well. Primarily, we are looking at strengthening our sneaker range that includes performance (walking, running, fitness), outdoor, fashion, work sneakers and our casual portfolio, which includes 2-mile fashion-inspired floats, sandals, sliders and mules. This also includes semi-formal wear for office and other gatherings. Formal shoes will continue to be an important part of our portfolio, but with enhanced comfort factor. Our supply chain has been agile to ensure that respond to this changing environment with adequate inventory at point of sale.

How are you planning your strategy for online and offline sales? What kind of footfalls are you expecting during this festival?

We will continue to approach our customers through a robust omni-channel strategy. We have nearly 20 brands in Bata portfolio and all our brands are available on www.bata.in, marketplaces and our retail outlets. This includes a wide assortment of sneakers from for Power, North Star and Weinbrenner, our fashionable range Marie Claire and Bata Red Label and our casual styles Bata Comfit, Hush Puppies and Naturalizer. We have recently launched another channel called ‘Endless Aisle’ for the convenience of our customers. It allows customers to scan in-store through QR code, select and order their favourite styles, and have it home-delivered later. This newly added service is already getting good response from our customers. We will also continue to reach our customers through Bata Chatshop, our WhatsApp enabled shopping platform, and Store on Wheels.

Any specific campaign strategies planned for the festival season? Most importantly, will you be offering attractive discounts to woo customers?

As the festive season has started in some parts of India, we are rolling out a new ‘Step Ahead’ 360 campaign showcasing all the new autumn winter season styles, that come with comfort technologies, and various styles, designs and colours to cater to different occasions which consumers would want to indulge during festive times.

Yes, we have attractive offers for customers to shop multiple products and get cashback and also offers from HDFC and PhonePe.

(Edited and Additional Inputs by Shanta Saikia.)

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