There was a time when a sale had a beginning, a build-up and, most importantly, an end. Today, it can feel like one sale hands the baton to another. A marketplace announces its festive event, a fashion platform follows with its own offer, D2C brands launch early-access deals, and quick-commerce apps add another layer of instant discounts.
By the time Diwali shopping actually peaks, consumers may have already encountered several versions of ‘the biggest sale’.
That creates an awkward problem for brands. Discounts can still get people to open an app, visit a store or add something to cart. But when almost every platform is offering a price cut, the discount itself can lose its ability to signal that this is the moment to buy.
Harish Bijoor, Business & Brand-strategy specialist and Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., puts it bluntly, “The sale, that big four-letter word that Indians tend to chase, is losing its impact. Sales have become part of an everyday mentality for brands, especially during festive times. Therefore, the nudge that a sale could create in the past is really not that much of a nudge anymore.”
The scale of festive commerce shows why brands continue to lean into the format. Redseer reported that the first 11 days of India’s 2025 festive e-commerce season generated more than ₹ 60,000 crore in GMV, around 3.5 times normal business-day levels. Yet fashion, traditionally one of the strongest festive categories, recorded only low single-digit growth, with Redseer pointing to year-round sales and discount cycles spreading fashion spending across the year.
The discounts are still driving business. What is getting harder is making one sale stand out from the next.
When the discount becomes expected
The consumer on the other side of the banner is not necessarily waiting for one particular sale anymore. They can browse early, compare prices, watch products and decide when the offer looks right.
At Killer Jeans, Hemant Jain, Joint Managing Director, KKCL, says the difference is visible in how shoppers approach promotions. “Consumers have therefore become more informed, price-aware and willing to wait for the right offer. Sale events can still generate strong traffic, but traffic alone does not always translate proportionately into conversion or higher order values. Ultimately, product desirability, freshness and value have to give consumers a reason to purchase beyond the discount.”
That distinction matters because a high-traffic sale can still fall short if consumers are merely browsing and waiting for another offer.
Dinesh Agrawal, CEO and Co-founder, Caslay, sees the same dynamic from the D2C side. “The risk with excessive discounting is that consumers begin to defer purchases in anticipation of the next offer. For a brand, that can undermine both full-price demand and the perceived value of the product over time.”
For brands, therefore, the festive sale has become less about putting a number against a product and more about deciding what that number is supposed to achieve.
The 30%, 40%, 50% problem
There is also the matter of differentiation. If one brand says 30% off and another says 40%, the temptation is obvious. But once several competitors begin communicating 40%, 50% or more, the percentage itself starts doing less work.
Jain adds, “When almost every brand is communicating similar discounts, the percentage itself stops being a differentiator. Moving from 30% to 40% and then 50% cannot be the only strategy.”
That is pushing brands towards product, newness, exclusivity, bundles, loyalty benefits and other reasons to choose one proposition over another.
For Libas, Nisha Khatri, CMO, Libas shares that the brand does not want the promotion to become the entire festive proposition. “The objective is to create value for the consumer without conditioning them to believe that the best reason to purchase is always a deeper discount. In fashion, especially around festivals, consumers are also shopping for specific occasions and looks, so product desirability continues to be a strong conversion driver.”
The point is particularly relevant to fashion, where festive shopping is tied to weddings, family gatherings, parties and religious occasions. A consumer may not simply want a cheaper kurta or dress. They may want a particular look for a particular moment.
Agrawal adds, “Ultimately, a sale can create a reason to buy now, but a strong product creates the reason to choose the brand.”
The sale now needs a story
When price becomes a commodity, communication has to do more.
Jyoti Chugh Bhatia, Group Director, Gozoop Creative, mentions, “When everyone is shouting discounts, shouting louder doesn’t necessarily help. The brands that stand out are the ones that build a stronger reason around the sale. From a communication standpoint, we are seeing brands move towards sharper, more contextual creative rather than just putting the offer front and centre.”
That could mean a new collection, a limited-edition collaboration, early access, a bundle or a proposition built around a particular festive occasion.
Shipra Dubey, Founder, The Good Old Brands, makes the same case through the lens of licensing. “The issue is that a discount now has to give the consumer a reason to act now, not simply a lower price.”
She argues that a differentiated product can create urgency without requiring the deepest price cut. “Imagine two brands offering a 30 per cent discount. One is simply running a sale. The other has launched a limited-edition collaboration with an internationally recognised IP. The second brand has created a reason to choose, rather than just another reason to discount.”
That may become more important as sale communication crowds the same consumer screens.
From one festive peak to many buying moments
The other major change is timing. Festive shopping no longer has to wait for Diwali week. Consumers can discover a product during an early sale, compare it elsewhere, wait for a bank offer and finally buy when the combination of product, price and occasion feels right.
Redseer’s 2025 festive data reflects this broader pattern. The consultancy found that year-round sales and discount cycles were spreading fashion spending across the year, rather than concentrating it only around the festive window.
Kulbhushan Atkar, Chief Revenue Officer, Pepperfry, notes, “What has changed is how consumers arrive at that purchase decision. They may discover a product earlier, explore different styles, compare alternatives and eventually purchase during a sale event that feels most relevant to them.”
There is still evidence that price matters. Ipsos’ 2025 IndiaBus Festival Shopping Survey found that quality was cited by 70 per cent of urban respondents as a purchase factor, while price and discounts were each cited by 62 per cent.
So, discounts are still very much in the mix. The harder part is making one offer stand out when consumers have seen plenty of them already.
As Dubey puts it, “The future isn’t necessarily about having one massive sale. It is about creating multiple reasons for consumers to engage with the brand throughout the festive journey.”
For brands, that could mean the festive sale is no longer the main event. It is one of several moments to win the consumer, with the product, the offer and the reason to buy having to do more of the work.
