How electronics brands can win festive big-ticket sales

Big-ticket electronics buying in India has quietly shifted: the festive-season sale is won weeks before the shopper enters a store. Shoppers do their research early, then wait for brands, retailers and financing partners to put their best offers forward. By the time they arrive, the shortlist is mostly set.

That insight anchors Episode 4 of Taiyaar For Tyohaar, the Campaign India and Google series on festive-season marketing. Amit Agarwal, CMO of Infiniti Retail – Croma, brings the view from a retailer with more than 560 stores, while Satya Raghavan, Director, Marketing Partners, Google India, brings insight into how India searches, watches and buys.

01 · Show up in the search that shapes the shortlist

Shoppers may no longer search for “smart TV” in two words. They ask a full question, sometimes attach a photo of the living room, and expect a specific answer. Google’s Gemini and AI Mode on Search can now interpret that context and suggest the right size or model. For brands, being present with useful, specific answers in those moments is now as important as the in-store pitch.

And a shopper briefed by AI is not harder to sell to. “The AI consumer is the high-intent consumer,” Raghavan says. They arrive halfway through the decision, looking for reassurance and a smooth close.

02 · Look beyond metros and beyond the obvious creators

The fastest growth is coming from outside India’s largest cities, where rising access and spending power meet demand that digital content helped build. These shoppers are informed, but they may search in Hindi or Tamil, or simply upload a picture of a product. Croma runs its digital marketing pan-India, with lifestyle creators helping it reach buyers beyond the top cities, while YouTube can serve different creative in different languages down to the pin code.

Creators matter across the funnel. Agarwal notes a phone buyer may watch five or six videos before deciding. Croma’s Unboxed by Croma channel offers reviews and comparisons with a retailer’s perspective, while tech reviewers demystify features and lifestyle creators make products feel aspirational. The practical step is not to bet everything on one influencer. “Please do not discount the role of lifestyle influencers,” Agarwal says. The approach that works is testing a broad mix, observing which videos resonate, and putting paid media behind the strongest performers.

03 · Connect online research to store sales

Research may start online, but many big-ticket electronics purchases close in-store. Shoppers want to see what is coming into their home, speak to a human, and know after-sales support exists. Croma keeps pricing and products consistent across channels and lets online buyers exchange, return or get service in-store.

The measurement shift is bigger. Croma passes store sales back into Google’s ecosystem in a privacy-safe way, an approach Agarwal calls omni-attribution. It lets campaigns optimise for a purchase wherever it happens, closing the gap between where the search begins and where the sale is recorded.

04 · Five moves for the stretched festive window

• Show up in AI-assisted search with specific, useful answers.
• Tailor creative and language for shoppers beyond metros.
• Work with a mix of tech and lifestyle creators; scale what resonates.
• Connect online and offline journeys, and measure the final sale.
• Be ready for every festive buyer with zero-cost EMIs and fast fulfilment.

The season now runs from Independence Day through Christmas. Raghavan says shoppers are buying more categories, more within those categories, and more often. Some research for weeks; others buy in the final hours of a sale. Brands need flexible financing and fast fulfilment to serve both.

05 · Creativity still cuts through the clutter

With festive feeds crowded with ads, standing out takes more than a bigger discount. Croma’s “Ghar Banta Hai Croma Se” campaign aims to move beyond a transactional relationship towards an emotional one. Agarwal keeps the offer communication memorable too: “Everything has changed, but I think the rules remain the same.” Communication still needs to be built on insight.

Raghavan calls creativity a CMO’s biggest superpower: often hard to measure, easy to recognise. Paired with AI tools that tailor the right message to the right shopper, it gives brands a way to cut through in the busiest season of the year.

The brands that win big are the ones that show up, and stay useful, from first search to final purchase.

Source: Campaign India

Mad About Marketing Desk The strategists and writers at Mad About Marketing, writing up what we see in the work every week.