D2C x BBD and GIF

Hey readers,

Welcome to the eighth edition of D2C Cents!

This edition? We talk about:

• Ensure visibility and discoverability during the BBD and GIF

• The sharpest D2C news that matters

GST 2.0 - The reforms the industry has been craving for are here! And they couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Industry expects a significant uplift, driven by consumer durables and daily essentials, during the upcoming festive sales.

Just before the festive sale days, we often hear about how our sales increased by 5x, ROAS went up 2x, however, net earnings were still negative.

The usual advice is black-and-white. Growth hackers say attempt for better visibility at any cost. P&L purists warn against destroying margins through accellerated marketing spends.

Here's what they both miss: D2C brands experienced 98% growth during 2024 festive sales, generating ₹1 lakh crore across platforms, while 80% of Indian D2C brands remain unprofitable despite explosive top-line growth.

Both camps miss the strategic complexity underneath.

"How do I use festive sales strategically - for inventory clearance, customer sampling, and market expansion - without having to spend bags of cash for preferred shelf space / discovery?"​

This tax restructuring, landing just as BBD and GIF kick off, creates enhanced affordability that could amplify the already projected ₹1.2 lakh crore festive sales.

And that's the nuanced reality we're unpacking today:

Analyzing 650+ D2C festive strategies (across winners, losers, and everything in between), the sophisticated brands navigate these 3 strategic dimensions:

1. Are You Strategic About What You Discount?

Green Flag: Surgical Discounting with Portfolio Intelligence

Red Flag: Blanket Portfolio Decimation

• Uniform discounting across catalogues destroys pricing architecture

• Premium products competing on price rather than value proposition

• Training customers for perpetual discount expectations (Read: Wowscience’s Cautionary Tale)

2. What's Your Customer Segmentation Strategy?

Platform-Native Targeting for Festive Optimization:

A. Acquisition Play for Geographic & Demographic Expansion:

• Amazon: Leverage household income data (₹5L+ for premium) + city-tier targeting for market expansion

• Flipkart: Use browse behaviour patterns to target tier-2/3 cities with value-conscious messaging

• Demographic Layering: Age (25-45) + shopping category affinity for precise audience definition

B. Retention Play - Behavioural & Psychographic Precision:

• Repeat Purchase Cohorts: Target 90-day repeat buyers with exclusive early access, preventing discount dependency

• High LTV Segments: Customers with 3+ orders get loyalty rewards instead of blanket discounts

• Engagement-Based: Cart abandoners vs. wishlist users receive differentiated messaging and offers

3. Are you calculating your Revenue Per Mille (RPM)?

Understanding True Advertising Efficiency

Smart brands measure Revenue Per Mille (RPM) during festive surges to understand genuine ad effectiveness:

The Atomberg Strategy: Achieved ₹9.3 operating revenue per marketing rupee by allocating 70% of budgets to bottom-funnel performance campaigns (sponsored products, retargeting) rather than top-funnel brand awareness. This precision targeting during festive traffic spikes proves that surgical reach outperforms broad awareness for D2C visibility optimization.

Hot Sellers - The Cash Cow Protection Strategy

Definition: Top 20% revenue-generating SKUs with consistent 4.5+ star ratings and high organic ranking

Approach: Zero to minimal discounting (max 5-10%) with maximum inventory depth

Aged/Slow-Moving SKUs - The Velocity Acceleration Play

Definition: Inventory sitting 90+ days with declining sales velocity or seasonal end-of-lifecycle products

Approach: Aggressive 40-70% discounting to convert dead stock into working capital

Festive/Seasonal Products - The Visibility Investment Strategy

Definition: Gift sets, limited editions, or seasonal variants designed specifically for festive consumption

Approach: Maintain pricing power while investing heavily in discovery mechanisms

1. Zero In on High-Intent Festival Keywords

Research festival-specific keyword spikes that align with your product category:

2. Precision Keyword Strategy: Specificity Beats Volume

Move beyond generic terms to capture qualified traffic:

Product Specification Targeting:

Challenger Brand Strategy:

• Target incumbent weaknesses: "[Incumbent brand] alternative ceiling fan"

• Specification hijacking: "[Incumbent brand] 750 watt mixer grinder" (if you offer same specs)

• Feature differentiation: "energy efficient fan vs traditional fan"

 3. Negative Keywords: Filter Out Bargain Hunters

Exclude price-sensitive terms that attract non-premium customers:

4. Gift Intent Keywords: Capture Emotional Purchase Triggers

Target occasion-specific search behaviour with premium bidding:

• "Perfect Diwali gift" - High emotional intent, higher AOV potential

• "Festive home decoration" - Aspirational purchases, less price-sensitive

• "Gift for Navratri" - Regional festival targeting for specific geographies

• "Premium festival collection" - Luxury positioning during high-spend periods

Strategic Implementation:

How Atomberg’s Platform-Native Strategy Captured 40% of Bestseller Rankings on Flipkart

2 out of every 5 fans on the bestseller list are now Atomberg products, representing 150% growth in 12 months. The brand has understood the specific platform nuances and, more importantly, how Flipkart differs from Amazon.

The Browse vs. Search Insight: Unlike Amazon's search-driven behaviour, Flipkart operates as a browse-led platform where customers discover products by scrolling through category pages like shopping in a modern trade store. Atomberg redistributed their advertising spend accordingly, investing heavily in targeted display ads for users who had browsed fan categories or competitor products, rather than relying solely on search ads.

Crucially, they maintained negative keywords like "economic fan" to filter out price-sensitive customers incompatible with their premium positioning.

This exclusivity prevented direct price comparison with other platforms while earning preferential visibility from category managers who control significant page real estate.

The strategy aligned with Flipkart's goal of retaining customers on-platform rather than losing them to competitors.

The Category Partnership: Atomberg’s alignment (with Flipkart) proved powerful during Flipkart's gamification initiatives like the "Atomberg Challenge," where customers earned rewards for engaging with their brand, demonstrating how platform collaboration amplifies organic discovery beyond traditional advertising.

The brands winning today aren't optimizing for maximum festive GMV or minimum brand dilution in isolation.

They're mastering the strategic complexity of using festive sales as a multi-dimensional tool - for inventory optimization, customer education, market expansion, and long-term brand building.

Strategic sophistication beats simple binary thinking. Plan (and participate) accordingly!

See you next edition - same time, deeper insights.

Until then, keep building strategically.
Abhishek