Consumers more excited for festive season shopping this year: RAI

Consumers are more excited about the festive season shopping this year compared to the last, making retailers hopeful that the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic will not eclipse the Diwali glow, Retailers Association of India (RAI) said on Tuesday.

As per the annual Festive Shopping Index conducted by RAI and LitmusWorld, capturing consumer sentiment on several aspects influencing purchase decisions during the festive season, apparel topped the shopping list followed by home appliances.

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As per the survey that covered 1,000 customers across tier I, II and III cities in India, 63 per cent of the respondents had apparel on top of their shopping list, followed by home appliances and electronics with 50 per cent each and 36 per cent preferred mobile phones.

"Jewellery is back among the top things to buy this festive season for 27 per cent of respondents this year, as against a mere 9 per cent last year," RAI said in a statement.

When it comes to spending, the survey found that about 43 per cent of respondents were willing to spend in the range of Rs 15,000 to Rs 1 lakh and 9 per cent are looking at spending above Rs 1 lakh during the ongoing festive season. Last year only 5 per cent of respondents were willing to splurge over Rs 1 lakh. RAI CEO Kumar Rajagopalan said, "Consumers have indicated an overwhelming eagerness to shop in this year's consumer survey as more than half of the respondents plan to shop for themselves as well as for their loved ones".

Stating that this augurs well for retail businesses and may lead to a turnaround, he said, "Retailers are hopeful that the positive sentiment continues and are hoping that a third wave of the pandemic doesn't eclipse the Diwali glow".

In terms of mode of payments, non-cash continues to be the trend this year as well, with credit cards (59 per cent) being the mode of choice, followed by debit cards (51 per cent) and UPI (40 per cent), RAI said.

As many as 21 per cent of respondents indicated that they would opt for EMI or pay later schemes when shopping, indicating the emergence of a new trend, it added.