Shop at sale prices on regular days says Sara Ali Khan in new Shopsy ad

Delivering ‘hypervalue’ is the focus of the B2C e-commerce platform Shopsy’s new campaign.

When an Indian consumer wants to buy clothes, it’s not uncommon for him/her to wait until a company hosts a sale. These sales are mostly held during the festive season, which begins in September with festivals like Dussehra, Diwali and then Christmas in December.

Shopsy’s new ad emphasises on its range of products and their affordability. It tells the customers that they don’t have to wait for a sale to purchase products.

Shopsy is a B2C offering from Flipkart that aims to encourage local entrepreneurship. It claims to be a zero-commission marketplace that sells a range of products, from fashion, beauty, electronics, home decor and more. It has released an ATL campaign, titled Aaj Shopsy Kiya Kya? featuring Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan.

Adarsh Atal, executive director of Tilt Brand Solutions, says Shopsy wanted to focus on the proposition of hypervalue every day.

“We tapped into the simple insight that people wait for these sales to buy what they have been eyeing. With Shopsy’s low prices, consumers can buy what they want, on a regular basis.”

Speaking to afaqs! over a Zoom call, Madhuvanthi Ananth, head of marketing and growth – Shopsy by Flipkart, says that the brand is targeting the next 400 million customers, who are essentially new to e-commerce.

“We want to reduce the entry barriers that this audience has to e-commerce and online shopping. We’re targeting Tier-II and III audiences with this campaign. They already have access to smartphones, Internet, social media etc. They use their smartphones for fringe online transactions, such as UPI payments or netbanking. We want to encourage them to shop online too.”

A press release states that this specific campaign wants to target women shoppers on the platform. Shopsy was founded in July 2021 and had released its first ad, starring Khan, in March 2022.

Ananth recalls that when the brand was on the lookout for a brand ambassador in January, it was the time when Khan’s movie Atrangi Re was released.

“She essayed that role of a young Tier-II/III audience very well. She was wearing salwar suits and sarees during the movie, and her acting was what caught our attention. The first campaign that we did contributed 25% of Flipkart’s new customers from Shopsy,” she says.

The ad has the tagline Har Din Aisa Sale Jaisa, and Atal says that the agency’s interactions with consumers led to an insight. “Indians are deal hunters, in general. They make do with things, while looking forward to the noisy, tentpole sale events. When we jammed on this, we realised that with Shopsy’s prices and deals, one never has to postpone the joy of shopping at a sale,” he says.

Atal adds that this was the brief from the client to the agency too.

Ananth acknowledges that during the sale season, it will be difficult for Shopsy, a relatively new brand, to compete with the bigger brands that are advertising on different media. So, the company adopted a different approach to advertising, starting early, much before the festive season begins.

Data provided by the company states that Shopsy has over 2.5 lakh sellers, with 150 million products ranging across fashion, beauty, mobiles, home and much more. The platform also aims to clock in around 100 million users by the end of 2023.

In a press release, Adarsh Menon, senior vice president and head – new businesses, Flipkart, says, “At Shopsy, we are committed to offering a value-based and convenient shopping experience to our consumers. As the campaign title Aaj Shopsy Kiya Kya? suggests, we are looking to develop a habit among consumers to visit Shopsy every day.”

According to Ananth, this range of products at different prices, is important to bring users on board to the platform to create the habit of browsing the app. “Habit creation is one of the most difficult things for a marketer and we want to create the habit of checking the app every day.”

She admits that a majority of people, who use the app, are women. They check the app multiple times in a day, during their commutes or at afternoon, after finishing household chores.

Shopsy claims to have budget-friendly price points for both genders. But Ananth admits that this is a challenge that the company grapples with.

“In the pursuit of targeting women, we shouldn’t be losing out on addressing our male audience. It’s a difficult marketing problem to solve. Sara Ali Khan is our brand ambassador and, with our last two campaigns, we’ve been showcasing relevant selections to our women audiences.”

Some of the companies that Shopsy competes with, include the likes of Meesho and, most importantly, with offline stores and street shopping outlets.

“It’s all the more difficult for our audience to trust us, since we’re a faceless entity, in that sense. That’s why it’s important to build trust and be consistent with the user experience that we provide. The experience of placing orders, making payments and receiving deliveries, should be consistent with every order to eventually build brand trust,” Ananth mentions.