Choice is an agent of change. This one word can alter the way societies, economies and individuals evolve. And choice it was that changed the Indian consumer in the last decade. If the last decade of the 20th century was all about the consumer getting used to the new avtaar a market economy, the first decade of the 21stcentury swept him off his feet. As India grew by leaps and bounds, so did the clout of the Indian consumer. Thanks to the sheer size of the market, especially the boom in the middle class and its purchasing power, the consumer is slowly being treated like a king.

Pre-packaged combos have given way to a la-carte. Choices have exploded and new categories and methods of consumption have taken centrestage.

The consumer today is spoilt for choice whether it be having to choose between MTNL and Airtel, Maruti and Mercedes, Pantaloon and Versace, Air India and Kingfisher. The days of limited choices and waiting lists are distant memories.

When you put so much power in the hands of consumers, their control increases. Today we see a deliberate exercise of power by consumers. For the first time in this country, people have started defining who they are by what they consume. Earlier it used to be where they come from,? Future Brands CEO Santosh Desai said.

And while evolution of the King Consumer has generally been seen as an urban phenomenon, rural India is the market that has the industry excited and on its toes. With 70% of India’s population, 56% of its income, and 64% of its expenditure, the 815 million country cousins from Bharat cushioned the economy amidst the global financial crisis.

A report by Ficci and Nielsen earlier this year shows revolutionary trends in rural consumption, with sachetisation and increasing FMCG and durables growth at as much as 18% and 25% respectively, almost 100% growth in use of mobile phones in the last one year, and the semi-urban and rural markets contributing 40% to auto sales. This is the space to watch out for.

The McKinsey report, The Bird of Gold: The Rise of India’s Consumer Market, shows that by 2025, India would be the world’s fifth largest consumer market, with the middle class comprising 41% of India’s population at a staggering 583 million people, controlling 59% of India’s consumption power. It goes on to say that the average real household disposable income will almost treble from Rs 1,13,744 in 2005 to Rs 3,18,896 in 2025, and thus the aggregate consumption would see a four-fold increase compared to 2005 to reach Rs 70 lakh crore by 2025. The report also emphasises that discretionary spending will account for 70% of all spending by 2025, while spending on necessities will grow more slowly.

The power has already moved to the consumer. Tomorrow, he would say to a brand, ‘This is what I want from you’. They will want to influence the brand decisions and not just respond to whatever the brand pushes,? Desai said.

But a word of caution. Consumer rights activist Pushpa Girimaji, while agreeing that the growth in purchasing power and choices has been largely positive, feels that these choices do not translate into consumer protection in India.

?Earlier consumers used to suffer at the hands of the public sector and licence raj, now it happens at the hands of the private sector. We need a proper and effective dispute redress mechanism. As things expand in rural areas, you will have a large number of people who might not be aware of their rights and might not be that assertive,? she said.