India’s festive shopping surge: A guide for advertisers around the globe

Every culture has special annual moments that witness peak consumer activity, wider wallets, and stores offline and online buzzing with activity, promising opportunities for brands. Days like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Singles’ Day drive massive surges in shopping, whereas occasions like Ramadan and Christmas are opportunities to build emotional connections. For Indians everywhere, the festive season, especially Diwali, becomes a time when both shopping and deeper engagement peak.

While closely observing India’s festive season, advertisers around the world can discover how cultural moments transform into meaningful connections. Microsoft Advertising, in partnership with InMobi Advertising, has released a new festive season report, India’s festive trends decoded: A guide to seasonal digital marketing in 2025, which dives into consumer trends and marketing opportunities for the season. While rooted in Indian behavior, the insights can help advertisers everywhere consider campaign strategies with consumer intent and timing at the core.

Festivals are when retail wins

The report highlights the impact of the festive period on commerce:

• Over 70% of searches for most categories came from PCs, despite the general mobile-first behavior of Indian consumers. As they spend over four hours a day on these devices, shuffling across platforms used for work and life, this presents an opportunity to reach and engage high-value users who are 20% more likely to 'add to cart' than on competing platforms.^*
• Budget and product quality drive decisions for more than 40% of shoppers, indicating greater awareness among consumers.
• The 49% rise in online sales compared to the rest of the year signals more shopping activity during the season.
• The 23% increase in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) indicates high-value transactions.
• Over half of shoppers said digital ads shaped their shopping decisions, highlighting the impact of being present online.

Evidently, shoppers are online and willing to spend during the festive season.

This is the season of surges in intent

Across categories, the significant demand reveals how consumers prioritized their spending:

• Electronics make up over half of all products purchased, which is good news for marketers in this category.
• Apparel and Accessories saw a great demand, with 62% going for gold jewelry.
• Computers and Consumer Electronics surged, with 31% buying new mobile phones.
• Home and Garden witnessed interest, with 52% seeking wall hangings.
• Occasions and Gifts saw a surge, with 43% saying sweets and snacks topped their shopping list.

Searches and clicks across categories peaked the week before Diwali and then again around Black Friday, indicating Indians’ willingness to honor their traditions while also shopping around global cultural moments. While click-through rates (CTRs) were stable, spikes around sale seasons showed that while attention is spread across the season, intent is concentrated in specific windows.

Win consumers this season

So how can marketers make these insights count? The report delves into strategic tips, and here is a glimpse:

1. Respond to real-time shifts: Adopt auto-bidding across campaigns, paired with seasonality adjustments, for best-in-class, real-time optimization.
2. Stay present throughout, but time your bursts: Make the most of consumer anticipation early in the season but budget bursts around peak sale events and occasions, such as Diwali, Black Friday, and Christmas.
3. Add visual appeal: Leverage multimedia ads, especially around sale seasons, to engage shoppers with product previews, rich imagery, and powerful storytelling.
4. Go omnichannel: Scale your reach and seamlessly fit into consumers’ lives across screens. Be present across devices and platforms they use every day for work and life, such as Outlook, Edge, and MSN. Activate feed-based ads, Audience Ads, and Performance Max campaigns that automate across ad formats and surfaces.
5. Retarget strategically: Re-engage audiences by driving shopping campaigns with dynamic remarketing lists.

The strategies are a compass for peak-season readiness anywhere in the world. They show how brands can be ready for consumer intent that shifts throughout the season, and how rewarding it can be.

To delve deeper into the insights and strategies, download the Microsoft Advertising and InMobi Advertising festive season report. Whether you are reaching consumers in Delhi, DC, or Denmark, the foundation of solid marketing remains the same: anticipate consumer needs, automate and tailor your campaigns with agility, craft your campaigns to resonate with the culture and sentiment, and connect with them wherever they are. From leveraging the power of conversational AI to being present on premium inventory across platforms like MSN and Outlook that people use every day, show up every moment that matters, the way it matters.

Marketers should use real-time, omnichannel strategies and multimedia ads to engage shoppers throughout festive seasons, optimizing campaigns and retargeting to boost sales, especially in peak periods like Diwali and Black Friday.