How Shopsy has smartly crafted its success story around hypervalue

One of India’s rapidly growing hyper-value e-commerce platforms, Shopsy by Flipkart, has launched the third edition of its campaign, ‘Aaj Shopsy Kiya Kya’ featuring actor Ayushmann Khurrana. The ad film which is in the form of a dialogic conversation, is a quirky take on how Shopsy offers value-for-money products at the most affordable prices, expressing the same through a humorous scenario at a bus stop where a young woman is seen appreciating the protagonist’s (Ayushmann Khurrana) dressing style and attitude and sharing the same with her Aunt. While on one hand the former is seen to be captivated by his style, her Aunt, on the other hand, criticizes him and claims he must have spent all his salary on buying those clothing items. The protagonist is then seen showing her the Shopsy app through which he bought those clothes and shoes, at prices as low as Rs 50 and informs them that even kurtis and sarees are available on the platform at those prices. The Aunt is then surprised as well as enamored by the fact and in the end, she is shown to be scrolling through the numerous cost-friendly options available in the Shopsy app, accompanied by the young woman and Ayushmann Khurrana.

The ad film has been conceptualised and created by Talented, an ad agency founded by former Webchutney leaders PG Aditya and Gautam Reghunath. The campaign strengthens Shopsy’s brand vision of offering good quality, fashionable products within the budget of the consumers, at reasonable prices, thereby bringing a smile to their faces. It resonates with the aspirations of the people living in Indian households who like sticking to their budgets.

The ad film precisely expresses Shopsy’s brand proposition through humorous and powerful storytelling, this time putting the male consumers at the center.

In conversation with Adgully, Madhuvanthi Ananth, Head of Marketing and Growth, Shopsy, said, “There are two layers of validation for a man whereas for a woman, it's more about providing for her family, to people who are close to her, but a man needs a validation in the form of considering him as financially prudent”. Excerpts:

What is the idea and concept behind Shopsy’s newest ATL campaign? How does it align with the brand ethos? How will it be different from the previous editions of Aaj Shopsy Kiya Kya?

The ad speaks for itself and we have been very clear with our messaging that Shopsy is a place where you can buy fashionable items, things in which you look good at very affordable prices. This one is the third edition of the campaign 'Aaj Shopsy Kiya Kya’. This time around our target segment is a little different. We are planning to talk to 25 + male customers, who do buy fashion but to whom we have to tell that there is an affordable place from where you can get it from and that’s Shopsy. Our previous edition of ‘Aaj Shopsy Kiya Kya’ was speaking to a predominantly female audience where we were probably talking about Kurtis, sarees, and so on. This time around we are talking about shoes, shirts, t-shirts, and others. We have Ayushmann Khurrana as our protagonist.

What is the reason for roping in Ayushman Khurrana as the brand ambassador and shift from Sara Ali Khan?

We have not shifted from Sara. She is very much our brand ambassador. What we have done is take Ayushman to talk to the male consumers, because all this while it was Sara talking about Kurtis and Sarees for women. This time around we wanted to talk to the men and then get them to buy more things from Shopsy. Somewhere between the brand and the personality of Ayushmann, I think we found the synergies. I have seen him right across his VJ days to this date. So he is a very well-known face across India and people relate to him. We think he is a star who is extremely approachable, who has shown that you can arrive in life. So it resonates with the brand as well as the consumers, which is why we roped in Ayushmann.

How is Shopsy leveraging digital media to promote the campaign? What is your marketing strategy?

Shopsy, like any other Flipkart group of companies, is a digital-first company. We talk to consumers digitally, on social media using influencers, plain old digital marketing, and advertising throughout the year. And we talk to consumers once a quarter on TV. We have been using digital right from its inception and we will continue to do so. This time around there is a healthy mix of influencers, digital buying, and so on that we have done for this campaign over and above TV.

What are the expectations of this campaign and what were the results of the last three editions of the campaign?

The last three editions of Aaj Shopsy Kiya Kya have done spectacularly well for Shopsy, as a brand. We have been able to increase our total number of 200 million app downloads. In the last two years, we had such spectacular growth, and every time we talk to consumers, they have embraced us, they have come on the platform, and downloaded the app and we see those results every day. This time this campaign has to be set up for success during the festive season, which typically starts from September onwards. So we see people buying from Ganesh Chaturthi to Christmas. This is the season when we are busy with us gearing up for the festive season, with our sellers finding newer and newer products for the consumers and then listing them on the platform. So that's the expectation to have a really good festive season.

Which creative agency has conceptualized this campaign?

We have worked with Talented which is an ad agency that has created quite a ripple in the last couple of months. So they have a very good run when it comes to winning against the Lions, and are a really good agency. The main creative person there is PG Aditya and we have been able to talk to him, help him understand what the brand is speaking to the consumers, and then get the inside out. We have also worked with Suresh Triveni, who directed this film. So together it was forming a really good team, who could maintain the quirk that Shopsy has in every campaign. It has a little bit of humor in it, a little bit of nuance to it. Whenever you see the ad, you typically have a smile on your face. So that has worked for us.

How has Shopsy’s performance been in the first half of the year 2023?

Shopsy was launched two years ago and in these two years, having a growth of  200 million app downloads is not a simple task. I think the growth has been spectacular for Shopsy. Everybody the team, the sellers, the media partners, and the creative agencies, came together., to create that spectacular growth for Shopsy. It has been pretty good in the first half of the year as well. But as you know that e-commerce is extremely busy starting now, this is the year for it as the year starts after August. That's what we are looking forward to.

What are the plans of Shopsy for the festive season ahead?

Shopsy has been created for new e-commerce customers. It is for people who have never bought on e-commerce, which could be their first point of entry and would be Shopsy. That's the vision for the brand. According to me, the way the platform is structured, we have various vernacular options available on Shopsy, and the price point for a new customer is extremely low such as Rs 50 and so on. Therefore, for a consumer who is just starting on e-commerce, the fear of going wrong is very high. So, we are making sure that they can place an order, and enjoy that entire experience of e-commerce like you are ordering and the entire thing is coming to your house. For something as low as Rs 50, that instills trust in the entire concept of e-commerce itself and there is a brand affinity that is built on Shopsy. That is what we have been able to do in the last two years.

For the festive season, this campaign has to set the tone. We have always been over-indexed on women, this time around we are talking to men also, to get them to buy things that they need for their everyday use, be it T-Shirt, Shirt, Jeans, and so on. That’s what we are aiming to achieve in this season.

What is the USP of Shopsy? What were the consumer insights leading to this campaign?

The hypervalue of Shopsy is the USP itself, so you get good value for money and there are instances where you get such value in the sense that even you did not expect to get so much value out of a platform. The entire selection of Shopsy, which the ad also suggests, is something that you look good in as well as it does not burn a hole in your pocket. So for us, the insight has also been like that when we spoke to a lot of male consumers, who are a little different from women, where women appreciate compliments, and for men, it is not just 'Hey you look nice in this T-Shirt?', but also you made a smart choice. You have got that T-shirt or shirt without spending too much and you are physically very responsible.

So, there are two layers of validation for a man whereas for a woman, it's more about providing for her family, to people who are close to her, but a man needs validation in the form of regarding him as financially prudent. So you can see in the ad also that first he gets validated that he looks nice, and then he breaks the myth from the Aunty’s perspective that his entire bank balance and salary is gone, but it's not so, which indicates that he made a financially prudent choice. I think that's where Shopsy plays a huge role, where you say one has an immense amount of selection, you can look nice by not spending much. I think that's where Shopsy has a place for itself in the e-commerce business.