Festive shoppers are opening their wallets wider this year, but they are taking a more considered route to the checkout, with brand trust, quality and price increasingly shaping purchase decisions and online research becoming an integral part of the buying journey. Artificial intelligence is also beginning to enter the process, with a large majority of shoppers showing interest in AI-led shopping assistance.
According to an InMobi Advertising study, 77% of festive shoppers have increased their shopping budgets from last year, while only 4% plan to spend less. Three in five shoppers expect to spend more than Rs 10,000, with the Rs 10,001-25,000 bracket emerging as the largest spending category.
However, the increase in spending appetite is not translating into a market driven primarily by discounts. Brand trust is the single most important purchase consideration for 27% of shoppers, ahead of discounts and festive offers, the InMobi study found. Among younger consumers, quality and price are the top purchase drivers, according to a separate study by Rukam Capital covering 4,000 Gen Z respondents aged 18-29 across 18 states.
The findings suggest that shoppers are increasingly using the festive period to research and validate purchases rather than making decisions purely on the basis of promotional offers. InMobi found that 75% of festive shoppers consult online product reviews before buying, while 53% use search to research products and 47% turn to social media and influencer content. Overall, 73% of festive shoppers make purchases online.
For Gen Z, this research-led behaviour is particularly evident. While social media and creators help with product discovery for 29% of respondents in the Rukam Capital study, only 6% said they purchase immediately following a creator recommendation. Most undertake additional research or check reviews before making a purchase. Around a third also said excessive influencer use, forced slang or attempts to chase trends make brands appear less authentic.
Trust, therefore, is increasingly being built through independent verification. Around 82% of Gen Z respondents in the Rukam study said they expect honesty and transparency from brands, with their own research emerging as the strongest source of trust, ahead of recommendations from friends and reviews.
AI is beginning to become part of this research process. Four in five festive shoppers surveyed by InMobi said they would like an AI shopping assistant, pointing to a potential shift in how consumers discover, compare and evaluate products during high-intent shopping periods.
The timing of the purchase journey is also changing. InMobi found that 62% of festive shoppers begin shopping in the final month before the festival, while the proportion making purchases one week or less before the festival has risen by five percentage points from last year. This indicates that a greater share of buying decisions is being compressed into the final stretch of the festive season.
Despite the increasingly digital journey, purchase decisions continue to have a strong family influence. Three in four shoppers make the final purchase decision themselves, while two in five say spouses or partners influence their purchases and one in three cite parents. Among Gen Z, parents and family account for 74% of gifting preferences, according to Rukam Capital.