Dubai: Rather than extended promotional campaigns of weeks or a month, UAE’s marketers are now thinking shorter durations... even those limited to a single day. It could even be that some future promotions will be kept open for just a few hours.
“Shorter durations mean a marketer can focus all his energies and resources on connecting with the widest possible consumer base within a set timeframe,” said V. Nandakumar, spokesperson at Emke Group, which owns the Lulu chain of hypermarkets. “This way, it virtually removes the ups and downs in buying activity when promotions are held over longer durations such as a week.”
Lulu held a day-long campaign at its UAE locations on January 1 focused exclusively on TVs. And it worked too — as against the average volumes of 700-750 units (average selling price Dh1,500-1,750) a day, on that particular day it sold nearly 9,000 units (average selling price of Dh2,000 as shoppers bought higher value sets) for a combined value of Dh17-18 million. And just this week it held another one-day pitch for laptops.
“When we held the spontaneous promotion for TVs, it was a period when demand for the genre was on the decline after the Indian government imposed restrictions on imports of electronics goods,” said Nandakumar. “And the local market is yet to build up substantial demand for new-generation TVs which are still deemed as expensive.
“So, we were taken quite by surprise with the volumes and the revenues that a single day fetched with a product category that was until then recording lukewarm demand.”
In the near-term, Lulu intends to focus on consumer durables for such promotions, which also helps with its inventory management and helps achieve faster stock turnaround times.
Other brands are also taking to the idea of day-long promotions. The spread of social media and online platforms plus saturation SMS delivery can bring details of the promotions instantly to the intended audience. In other words, less marketing expenses related to spreading the word around.
“Retailers have to keep innovating their promotions to maintain customer interest — since the two- or four-week sale is the standard, variations through 24-hour or a three-day holiday weekend run are gaining popularity,” said Tanvir Kanji, head of the advertising and marketing services agency Inca Tanvir. “It also helps with staff deployment.
“Since we already have DSF and DSS, we will see more of mid-term sales of shorter duration. In some Western markets, they even hold one-hour discount offers, akin to the Happy Hour concept.”
