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Defence Day weekend brought about one of the biggest sales of the year 2020. Also, one of the only few sales that we saw since the lockdown fully lifted. The stores can now start operating at desired capacity and this sale was a much-awaited affair for many.
On the one hand, it served the important purpose of clearing out old stock for the retailers. Some stock dating back to as far as pre-Covid 19 time. With winters also right around the corner, this was the perfect opportunity to not just end the season with a bang but also prepare for the new stock, new plans, the ‘new normal’.
On the other hand, consumers also did not shy away from coming out and making the sale a success. The influx of buyers with a strong intent to buy was nothing but a pleasant surprise to the businesses who had previously seen a slow rise in sale post-lockdown.
So how was the weekend? And where are our insights coming from?
We used the Industry Benchmarking tool in Shopper Value*, that leverages data from 1,400+ stores from more than 50 leading retailers in Pakistan, to draw an analysis on the relative success of the weekend sale in the apparel industry in Pakistan. The sale undoubtedly stood out as a success in all the scenarios we analyzed.
We made a period-wise comparison in the apparel industry and here is what we found.
Defence Day weekend 2020 Vs Defence Day weekend 2019 (Friday inclusive)
Evident through data, the performance on this weekend was significantly better than last year on all measures, i.e. Traffic, Conversion and Items per Transaction. What is particularly interesting to note here is that even the average unit price this year was higher than LY, suggesting that the margins weren’t that bad either.
Undoubtedly, the Defence Day weekend will be celebrated as a great milestone for the retail industry. Not only did the industry draw in great footfall but it also benefitted from favorable margins and IPT. Overall, data indicates that this sale was better managed with factors such as enhanced upselling strategies, service intensity and staff productivity into play.
This event in the ‘new normal’ has proved to be even better than the pre-pandemic period. As we continue to fight the threat of Covid-19, this great achievement will encourage business confidence and optimism.
