#ThinkDigital – Digital, Discounts and Drama – Marketing for the 3D-Generation

Flipkart Big Billion Days Sale, Amazon Great Indian Shopping Festival, Zomato No Cooking January are some of the best examples of the campaigns that are run to target the new generation of India – the 3D Generation. A generation that believes in shopping digitally, likes to have massive unrealistic discounts and consumes a lot of dramatic content from all possible sources.
Let’s unfold the 3D Generation – Over the last five years, India has seen a huge spike in internet and smartphone usage. Interestingly 46% of urban and 57% of rural internet users are under the age of 25. This is number is expected to grow at the average yearly rate of 15%. These young age users are avid content consumers and online shoppers. As per statistics, 50% (approx. 200 mn people) of India’s smartphone population has shopped online at least once and this number is expected to grow faster than ever before.

As per the below chart from smartinsights.com, convenience and price comparison are the main drivers for Online Shopping. The chart below also illustrates the importance of free shipping offers. The report also considers variation in perception by country and in different generation groups from Baby Boomers to Gen X and Millennials.

Indian shoppers are very very price sensitive and hence it is also very crucial for online shopping platforms to keep them engaged and enrich this engagement in such a way that it converts to loyalty. Discounts, Cashback, Every Season sale and Exclusive offers are the key ingredients of this process. As much as e-tailers do this to keep their consumers engaged, these kinds of sales are also turning users to discount addicts or in other words Sale-oholics.
“Since the last 3 years, I have been actively and primarily buying good online. I have accounts on almost every e-commerce website and I look for as much as discounts on all possible websites before buying it. Yeh, it sometimes takes some time however I feel satisfied and happy. Discounts make me happy” – Vikas, Sr Developer at ATechnos told me when I saw his desk full of online shopping boxes and enquired about his online buying habits. In my opinion, people like Vikas represents the 3D generation of India. And this generation is growing faster than the population of India.
Brands require a different approach to engage with this generation. They are always online, always in the mood of shopping and always ready to consume the relevant content. One more thing that we noticed about them is the willingness to give open feedback about their experience with the product they purchase. Here are the three things that brands can do to differentiate themselves from their competitors –
1. Produce ad-free content with super relative product placements. Yes, AD-Free. Do you like ads? No Right. No One does. So why do we make it annoying for our consumers to watch the content they like. Instead, the bigger opportunity for brands is to optimize product placements. OLA, Airtel, Coke many brands have done it successfully and created better impressions.

2. Use analytics and artificial intelligence to understand consumer habits. Some time ago Amazon filed a patent that could help them in leveraging the consumer buying habits in deriving the purchase pattern for consumers. They were intended to use this method for advance shipping the products in nearby warehouses so that when a consumer buys, it can be delivered quickly. What data do you have about your consumers? Use it not just to solve the current problems but also optimize the consumer experience.

3. Encourage consumers to give feedback. Now If I have to choose one out of the three points I mentioned, this would be the one I would choose. The reason is very simple, no one can give better feedback to you about your products or services than your consumers, and brands must encourage it. Amazon reportedly started a new ad product on their websites that will allow brands to get feedback from the purchasers directly. Amazon also launched a reward program called Amazon Moments last week that will allow other brands to reward their consumers on Amazon. Gratification is a great way to reward consumers for their honest feedback.

Advertising is changing as digital ecosystem influences the thinking of a consumer and its lifestyle. In my column, “#ThinkDigital” | explore the intersection of the latest digital-tech, advertising and everything around. Every fortnight I will be sharing insights on the latest digital trends, innovative campaigns, and conversations from the Innovation and data-driven digital leaders across the planet.