“Legend has it that you can propose to your man on Feb. 29,” screams the home page of Caratlane.com.
The online diamond retailer is promoting its men's range of rings with the promotion line, based on a Scottish proverb that says a man cannot refuse a woman's proposal on this once-in-a-four-year day.
Tapping into the ‘any excuse to spend' mindset of the consumer, online retailers are using this year's extra day (Feb. 29) as a great sales opportunity.
E-retailer Tradus.in has announced a ‘Leap Year Clearance Sale,' offering 50 per cent discount on brands such as DKNY watches, Guess wallets, Bern handbags and Elysia home furnishings.
“Feb.29 is a fun day for everybody and we decided to take advantage of that,” says Mr Krishna Motukuri, Managing Director, Tradus.in. Similarly, Fashionandyou.com, a private shopping club and an online luxury fashion site, is also celebrating the ‘extra day' this year with a 29-hour discount sale starting 7 p.m. on February 28. “Customers also get 29 per cent additional points on the value of all their purchases, which can be used up to the end of March this year,” said Mr Asheesh Mediratta, Director, Sales, Fashionandyou.
International online apparel retailer Zappos.com is extending its existing one-year return policy by another three years. Customers can return products purchased on that day on or before the next Feb. 29, which falls in 2016, giving customers a ‘1,461-day' return window.
“Creating an event around a date is one of the ways the nascent online industry can acquire customers,” says Mr Purnendu Kumar, Senior Vice-President, Retail at Technopak Associates. According to him, physical stores cannot attract consumers on a Wednesday, while online retailers can use this opportunity to make their consumers shop even on a weekday.