MUMBAI: A SEMrush study shows that when Diwali, the most important festive season in India approaches, online searches for Diwali offers and discounts skyrocket. The SEMrush study shows every year over the past few years, with Diwali approaching, increasing numbers of people search online for Diwali offers, promotions, discounts, and make inquiries about pollution levels. With internet penetration growing considerably every month, the number of searches related to Diwali is expected to reach hitherto untouched heights in October 2019.
While during the Diwali season in 2015 Diwali related keywords were used approximately 1 million times, in 2016 this number grew to well over 1.25 million. During the 2017 festive season, Diwali related keywords were used a whopping 3.3 million times but unexpectedly fell to 1.8 million the following festive season. In October of this year, Diwali related keywords are expected to be used approximately 4 million times. The SEMrush study shows in 2019, online searches containing Diwali related keywords have been steadily increasing since July. In that month they were used 246,000 times. In the following two months, such keywords were used 450,000 and 560,000 times.
The SEMrush study shows the festive season piques consumer interest in online shopping. The Keyword “Flipkart Diwali Sale” was used an average of 17,992 over the past 4 years. Keywords such as “Diwali offer”, “Diwali Special Rangoli”, “Amazon Diwali Sale”, “Diwali Offer Mobile”, “Amazon Diwali Offer”, “Jio Diwali Offer”, “Diwali Offers Flipkart”, “Diwali Sale”, “Snapdeal Diwali Offer”, and “Diwali Special” were each used an average of 15371, 8031, 7957, 5759, 5200, 4475, 4266, 4175,4157, 3697 times respectively since 2015.
The SEMrush study shows consumers have come to expect online retailers to provide intriguing discounts during the Diwali season. The study also highlights that many consumers still search for products from specific online retailers by inputting keywords in search engines rather than by directly going to their website or app. This is likely because many consumers are aware that online retailers have attractive offers during the festive season yet remain unaware of how to take advantage of them. They see no other alternative than to input their queries into search engines. It may also highlight that Indian consumers don’t find online retailers websites and apps user-friendly enough to spot the best deals. Hence many turn to search engines which seem less intimidating. The SEMrush study also reveals the relative popularity of online retailers in India with both Flipkart and Amazon in dominant positions with Snapdeal an also-ran.
Indians are also aware that Diwali produces pollution. Online searches containing keywords “Diwali air pollution” were made a total of 550 times during the festive season in 2015. In 2016, 2017, 2018 these keywords where input a total of 550, 1300, and 1000 times respectively. The SEMrush study also shows that many input searches with keywords “eco-friendly crackers” and “green crackers”. Of these two keywords, “green crackers” was searched 20000 times in October 2019 while “eco-friendly crackers” was searched 4500 times. This signals that Indians eager to buy fire crackers that don’t pollute are most likely to recognise such crackers when they are labelled “green crackers” as opposed to “eco-friendly crackers”. The study shows Indians are not only aware that Diwali produces air pollution but are also sophisticated enough to try and mitigate such pollution by buying fire crackers that produce little or no pollution.
Mr. Fernando Angulo, Head of Communications, SEMrush, said “Diwali is by far the most important festival in India and Indians have demonstrated immense adaptability by incorporating into Diwali their joy of shopping. The festival of lights burns considerably brighter because it is accompanied by major new purchases by most households. And growing numbers of Indian consumers don’t just buy more during the festive season, they buy more at the best possible discounts because they know where to find them online.
He further added- Customers also know which online retailers are likely to offer them products at the best prices, this is highlighted by the diminishing popularity of an also-ran online retailer. Our study also shows that pollution during Diwali is a major concern as online inquiries about pollution levels are growing with each passing year”.
