Industry Knowledge
9
Min Read

What bloomed for retailers this Spring? Case studies, reports, strategies, and more.

xeno pulse spring strategy
Published On
May 7, 2021
TABLE OF CONTENTS

The beautiful season of Spring is almost coming to an end. Now, if we backtrack a little, a lot has happened over these past 3-4 months. Regardless of which, brands ensured to make the best out of their Spring campaigns and push their profits. This week's Xenopulse talks about such brands who have achieved some amazing results during the season and what has been the overall state of the retail industry during this time. Check it out.

Hi there,

Yes, it's Friday and I am back ;)

How are you feeling this morning? Here's a friendly reminder for you to get up, get dressed for no reason, call up a friend, and tune into some good music. Trust me, it'll make you feel beautiful.

Now talking about beautiful things, the beautiful season of Spring is almost over. As much as I love the season for all it brings, it also brings along a pool of opportunities for marketers to push profits forward just like the blooming flowers in the vibrant green. Today I'll be talking about the state of retail during spring and some successful spring campaigns of the season.

👩🏻‍💻Retail Roars Back| Spring Retail Report 2021

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The new year for the retail industry started on a high note, with overall sales increasing by 5.8% - the best growth rate since October 2020. Every retail category grew month-over-month, with nearly 11% attributed to core retail and 22% to online retail.

As consumers shifted more of their shopping to online, we saw four years of e-commerce growth compressed into a single quarter, as nearly 150 million people shopped online for the first time in 2020. Online sales remain strong but have retreated from their Q2 2020 high of 16.1% as the number of shoppers returning to physical stores increases.

Clothing and accessory stores saw an 18.3% increase from February, and sales were up 101.1% unadjusted year over year. Restaurant and bar sales saw a 13.4% increase from February, and sales are up 36.0% from this time last year. Food and beverage stores are up 0.7% from February and were down 11.8% unadjusted year over year.

The NRF's 2021 forecast predicts retail sales growing between 6.5% and 8.2% to more than $4.33 trillion. This reflects increasing vaccination rates and businesses reopening. Online sales are expected to grow between 18% and 23% to between $1.14 trillion and $1.19 trillion.

Download the report here.

📊How brands like Vero Moda, Colorbar, Forever New maximized their revenue during the Spring Season

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Spring is all about new beginnings and revitalization. Something that we all need during these trying times.

Brands for sure know how to make the best out of every opportunity available.

Here's a quick summary of the campaigns that these brands ran to hit their sales target regardless of the pandemic:

  • Forever New generated an ROI of 415X using cluster-based personalized campaigns
  • G3 generated an ROI of 223X from its Spring-summer wear collection with the help of audience segmentation
  • Colobar’s new product launch campaign produced a 90% uplift in conversions using category personas
  • Bestseller generated incremental revenue of up to 260% from its Season Launch Campaigns using Digital channels over SMS
  • Nandos spring campaign resulted in an uplift of 94.44% ROI due to personalized efforts

More such retailers are using Xeno’s Next-Gen CRM to build a deep customer understanding, create relevant campaigns across digital channels, and in the process maximizing their revenue from their loyal customers.

Read more about the strategy used by these brands.

🛒How D2C & FMCG biggies are racing to win at-home consumers amid changing shopping behaviour

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Amid the coronavirus pandemic, there was a surge in online sales as people stayed locked in their homes. Now, even traditional FMCG players are digitising themselves to win these consumers.

Listing on marketplaces, including Amazon, and Flipkart, also costs 20-40 percent in commissions depending on the product category. That’s why many D2C brands, many of which were launched before the internet boom of 2016 — including millet-based cereal brand Soulfull (now acquired by Tata Consumer Product Ltd.) and dip and sauces brand Wingreens — made modern retail stores a priority.

“In the current situation, any recently launched D2C brand should focus on building their community because that’s how they will be able to increase their volumes and decrease advertising and customer acquisition cost,” says Vinay, Partner at Fireside Ventures “Once the potential consumer is hooked, a brand can slowly plug in their products.”

The target has also changed. Instead of fighting for market share with fast-moving consumer goods giants, including Hindustan Unilever Ltd., and Dabur India Ltd., on retail shelves, D2C brands have a chance of building their own niche.

The goal is to get repeat purchases instead of competing for new customer acquisition. Market share can be built through repeats. If a brand can get repeat purchases four to five times a year and has a sizable customer base, good revenue can be generated

Read more here.

️🛍How did Bewakoof.com bounced back from zero revenues amid COVID-19

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Founded in 2012 by two IITians Prabhkiran Singh and Siddharth Munot, Bewakoof is a youth-oriented online fashion brand. In FY20, the startup registered a revenue of Rs 200 crore. But, it saw its revenues come down to zero when the nationwide lockdown was announced last March.

  • Customer loyalty: In a pleasant surprise, Bewakoof saw traffic coming back its site but there was a difference as customers were looking for something else. Hence, the startup decided to start focusing on goods that were needed during the lockdown period such as sanitisers and face masks.
Prabhkiran says, “Within two months, we started generating a business of Rs 10 crore, which took care of our cash flow issues and paying the salaries of our employees.”
  • Changing strategies: They started manufacturing apparel products that were more in demand during the lockdown like pyjamas, boxers, shorts, t-shirts, etc. Bewakoof also introduced a customer loyalty programme with an upfront fee of Rs 599 for a year.

At present, Bewakoof is on a much stable ground as traffic on its site has reached pre-COVID-19 levels and the startup has started to reaping dividends on the changes it made.

The founder says Bewakoof learnt a lot during the pandemic as many of changes it bought about — like outsourcing manufacturing, shifting of technology team or onboarding third-party sellers — were unthinkable during normal times.

Learn more here

Hand-picked tool for the week: ahrefs.com

Your chance to discover some of the most unknown & helpful tools made for marketers like you.

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Ahref's is an all-in-one SEO tool that helps to conduct in-depth keyword and competitor research, optimizing your website, track your ranking, compare your content strategy with that of your competitors, and much more.

Check it out here.

Brand & Marketing News

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  1. How IPL suspension will add to adland's woes
  2. Star Disney works out the way forward with IPL sponsors
  3. Oxygen or gas? Social media questions Cred’s credibility on Oxygen supply
  4. Twitter acquires news startup Scroll in push for subscriptions

That’s all for today folks. Hope you liked today’s edition.

Stay in & stay safe :”)

P.S Our team recently curated a list of COVID-19 resources. Please share it with people in need. Hope this helps in some way.

Marketing & Content Strategist

Anisha Arora is an experienced Marketing & Content Professional who often breaks down complex topics for readers here. She collaborates with various teams to seamlessly combine different viewpoints and knowledge about customer retention, CRM, loyalty, and marketing technology. When she's not working, you'll find Anisha sipping coffee and binge-watching her favorite TV shows.

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