How brands are redefining omnichannel for the festive season

Omnichannel as the new standard of experience

The panel unanimously agreed that omnichannel is no longer a novelty but a fundamental consumer expectation. Gautam Batra of Xiaomi India pointed out that with 70% of people cross-checking products and reviews online after seeing them in an offline store, a brand's primary challenge has shifted from mere presence to ensuring consistency. "It has become an expectation that you have to be on every channel," Batra stated. "How brands like Xiaomi are doing it is by making the experience consistent, whether it's key specs, pricing, or warranty, we make sure we are matching that experience through and through."

Batra elaborated on how Xiaomi tailors this approach across its three distinct brands. The Poco line is an "online heavy play", while Redmi offers a combination of both online and offline access. For the high-end, premium Xiaomi products, however, the offline "touch and feel, try, go, buy" experience becomes extremely important.

For Noise, an "Instagram-born brand" that started with a D2C-first approach, this consistency is rooted in a clear set of values. "Whatever we do, it has to be seamless, accessible, and expressive," explained Shantanu Chauhan.

He argued that with a consistent experience as the baseline, the real differentiators now lie in deeper engagement. "Any kind of personalisation across the channel, or how you are actually holding your community, will be a major differentiator," Chauhan added.

The omnichannel challenge

While the goal is a seamless journey, execution can be complex, especially in a business-to-business dependent model. Bhavin Devpuria of Triumph Group explained that for his business, the omnichannel experience must be "sacrosanct with the primary customer as well as the secondary customer."

The biggest hurdle, he noted, is dynamic pricing across different channels, which can shatter the customer's trust. He gave an example of a loyal customer at a local boutique who finds the same product cheaper online, not due to the retailer's fault, but because of automated price-matching crawlers used by large marketplaces. "Omnichannel needs to be an equal playing field," Devpuria asserted.

To bridge the gap between offline service and online convenience, Devpuria highlighted how Triumph replicates its in-store fitting expertise on its D2C platform. "We have something which is called as a fit calculator," he said, explaining that this tool helps create a consistent and educational experience, especially for shoppers in Tier-II and Tier-III towns.

Quick Commerce as the new frontier for sales and storytelling

The panel identified quick commerce platforms as a rapidly evolving and powerful tool in the omnichannel mix. For Shantanu Chauhan, Q-commerce is ideal for impulse-driven gifting moments. "We use the channel objectively," he said. "If there is a Rakhi, my D2C can't promise to deliver something within a day or two, which a quick commerce platform can."

Noise also partners with platforms like Zepto to co-create content and help build new product categories, such as electronics, on their platforms.

Gautam Batra added that Xiaomi also views quick commerce as a dual-purpose tool. "Of course it's a sales platform, but we think of it as a way to build our marketing playbook," Batra noted.

He explained that the promise of rapid delivery, like a TV or smartphone in under 30 minutes, enhances the customer experience and serves as a powerful marketing message.

The discounting dilemma

During the festive season, the temptation to chase volume with heavy discounts is immense. However, the panellists cautioned against this short-term strategy. "You can't discount so much, because it is a race to the bottom, honestly," warned Shantanu Chauhan. "You might win this particular festival, but when the entire year PNN comes then then you regret it." He noted that after experiences like sponsoring major sporting events, which were great for visibility but challenging for the P&L, the company realised its long-term focus must be on brand building and premiumisation. "Discounting is not the ultimate thing for us; brand building is the ultimate thing," he asserted.

As a tactic to maintain balance, Chauhan shared a key strategy: "Start marketing for all your good margin products more, and let the discounted product flow organically." He also revealed that Noise runs its own large-scale "anniversary sale" in August, about 30 days before major marketplace sales, to capture early demand and avoid the high ad costs of the peak festive season.

As the session concluded, the panellists offered their final pieces of advice. Gautam Batra stressed the importance of foresight. "Plan ahead," he urged. "If you do not have the money to match Flipkart and Amazon, plan ahead, go before them, go before other brands." Bhavin Devpuria added a crucial point about adaptability, reminding marketers to "always keep room for those knee-jerk, last-minute changes," which will help in "calming your own anxiety."

Finally, Shantanu Chauhan advised brands to maintain their strategic focus and not get pulled into last-minute price wars with competitors. "Stick to your objective... concentrate on the good margin products, and don't lose the passion while working on it."