Putting Best Foot Forward For The Festive Gifting Season

According to market surveys, there is a 25 per cent increase in the average monthly spend of shoppers on staples and packaged foods during the three months of the festive season (OctoberDecember), compared to the average monthly spend in the previous six months until September. No surprise that retailers and manufacturers hope to do significantly more business in the festive season than in the regular months and expect better business in terms of sales traction, consumer connect, branding, etc.

- Sanjay Kumar

The festive season is a period of spreading joy and happiness and gifting has become a characteristic and intrinsic feature of the festive season. Whether it’s Rakshabandhan, Diwali or New Year, we love to celebrate it, and given the Indian culture and traditions, gifting holds a very important place for each and every festive occasion. Gifts help to spread the joy of festivities with our near and dear ones. In this fast-paced life, we occasionally get time to meet and greet our friends, relatives or business associates and gifts are a beautiful way to keep up and nurture our relationships. Festive season, through the medium of gifting, helps in nourishing our connections and this is a theme that plays across all product categories.

Both retailers and manufacturers aver that gifts have come to occupy an important part in our lives and gifting builds human relationships. “In the festive season, gifts occupy an important part as they help to cement ties and build bonds. In the food category, people like to shop for value offering items that have unique flavors and product combinations,” says Laxmichand Gada of Mumbaibased Society Stores. As the festive season is a period of buoyancy in consumer sentiment, the purchasing power of consumers is at its peak because there is a lot of gifting to be done. No surprise then that retailers and manufacturers expect to see a minimum sales hike of 10-20 percent during this period.