Festive season spend may dip by 33% this year; property, auto to bear the brunt

Consumers spending in the upcoming festive season is likely to drop by one-third compared to last year and coronavirus impact may further add to the woes of local retailers, according to a survey by Localcircles.

Most of the consumers surveyed opined that they want to buy small traditional items and gift packs online instead of going to market.

"With COVID-19, consumer spending in festive season 2020 is expected to get impacted by approximately one third in value in comparison to festive season 2019 with major decline expected in property, automobile and jewellery purchases," Localcircles founder and chairman Sachin Taparia said.

The survey covered over 65,000 respondents across more than 300 cities. Around 61 per cent of consumers said they will spend on purchases in this festive season compared to 78 per cent respondents in 2019.

Around 14 per cent consumers said that they will spend between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000 in the upcoming festive season, 44 per cent between Rs 1,000-10,000 and only 3 per cent said that they will spend more than Rs 50,000 for purchases.

Most of the consumers said that they will spend money on grocery and food supplies, 19 per cent on white goods and appliances, 15 per cent on smartphones and consumer electronics, 11 per cent on home renovation and 8 per cent on fashion and festive wear.

"Due to Covid-19, e-commerce is expected to see a major spike as the percentage of consumers that will use e-commerce as a primary channel for shopping is expected to rise from 27 per cent last year to 51 per cent this year," Taparia said.

Around 80 per cent of the consumers expressed interest in buying festival-related items from small businesses, emerging brands, weavers and artisans from e-commerce portals.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has been especially hard on many micro, small and medium enterprises who lost a major part of their business due to the various phases of lockdown, people staying indoors due to the risk of the virus, zero tourism and far lesser exports.

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They would be hoping that the positive Navratra, Dussehra and Diwali sentiments would increase their sales so that they could get back on their feet," the survey report said.