Mumbai: Retail ad volumes surged by 55 per cent in January-August over the same period last year, according to data provided by TAM Media Research. The month of February saw the highest ad volumes’ share for the retail sector for both 2021 and 2020.

There were 450+ new brands that advertised under the retail industry compared to last year. The period between March-June witnessed a dip for both 2020 and 2021 due to the effects of Covid-19. Ad volumes have gotten back on track from July onwards.

Retail jewellers had 57 per cent share of ad volumes followed by retail electronics/durables (16 per cent) and retail clothing/textiles/fashion (13 per cent). The top three categories account for more than 80 per cent of the ad volumes for the industry. The top five advertisers were Lalithaa Jewellery Mart (19 per cent), Kalyan Jewellers (six per cent), Vasanth & Co (five per cent), Malabar Group of Companies (five per cent), and The Chennai Silks Group (four per cent).

The top ten new retail brands on TV were Thangamayil, Sweet Truth, Pothys Swarna Mahal, Patanjali Gramin Arogya Kendra, Oxygen Digital Shop, Malabar Gold Precia/Era, H&M Hennes & Maurtiz, Ashirwad Gold Mine, My G Future, and Rajakumari Gold & Diamonds.

Retail advertisers' most preferred channels to advertise were News (57 per cent) followed by GEC (20 per cent), music (12 per cent) and movies (9 per cent). The top three channels account for almost 90 per cent ad volumes of the retail sector. News bulletins, feature films, and film songs were the preferred program genres.

The preferred time band for retail brands was the primetime slot between 6 p.m to 12 am that had 34 per cent share of ad volumes. This was followed by afternoon and morning time bands at 22 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively.