By Ankit Gupta,
For businesses, the holiday season is a time of increased sales. During this time, companies compete to sell the best products while consumers compete to receive the best gifts. Because the season brings in the much anticipated holiday shopping time, businesses and brands should start to prepare for the emerging festive trends. Additionally, to maximize seasonal sales, companies must adjust to shifting customer behaviour.
A recent report has been published, where the monthly examination of consumer attitudes on various topics was done. This survey shows that spending in India appears to grow as overall expenditure increases throughout the festive season.
According to their October study, one of five relevant sub-indices, i.e., spending on luxury products, has shown an improvement in mood. Consequently, 44% of respondents said they would buy clothing at Dusshera or Diwali, 8% said they would buy a white good or a phone, and 8% said they would buy a 2- or 4-wheel vehicle. According to the study, 81% of respondents think that this holiday season’s most significant spend would be buying gifts for family members.
Let’s see the five shopping trends this festive season.
Spending across essentials and non-essentials
Expenditure on necessities like personal care and home products has climbed for 46% of the families, an increase of 1% from last month, while overall household spending grew for 61 % of families, the same as last month. Spending on non-essential and luxury items like air conditioning, cars, and refrigerators has climbed for 7% of households, up 1% from the previous month.
Also Read | Diwali 2022: Time to ditch Chinese products and go vocal for local
Media consumption stayed the same as last month (19%), while mobility grew for 7% of families, up 1% from the previous month. Consumption of health-related products climbed for 37% of families, a 1% decline from the last month.
Spending on entertainment & content
According to the poll, on average, users engage with nine applications on their smartphones regarding mobile app usage. Furthermore, 61% of people view internet videos like those on YouTube and OTT. According to the poll, 32% of people see commercials on TV, 26% do so online, 17% do so on social media, 15% do so in print, 6% do it outdoors, and only 2% do so on the radio. These numbers help us determine the ideal channel for brand advertisements.
Sales and Offers
A reasonable price is much more critical to most Festive buyers than a specific brand. Consumers eagerly anticipate significant discounts over the Holiday season. It’s not only about price reductions; they often look for other attractive deals like free presents, free shipping, or gift bundles. Consequently, shoppers examine various values before selecting the one that seems the most valuable.
Shopping in Advance
People’s early Christmas planning is likely a response to what happened prior when the covid-19 outbreak made it hard to do the usual holiday shopping. Since they are thrilled to see their friends and family again this year, they want to be ready for any potential problems.
Support for Sustainable and Small Businesses
The pandemic has also changed consumer attitudes and behaviour by raising people’s awareness of the source of their purchases. Consumers are becoming more environmentally concerned daily, so they are more inclined to favour sustainable companies over non-sustainable ones.
The Way Forward
Customers will likely revert to certain pre-covid behaviours and cling to some post-covid behaviours in 2022 now that conditions have somewhat improved.
In 2022, 35% of customers anticipate spending more on Diwali. It is most likely a result of the pandemic’s restrictions on consumers. Over 90% of Indian festive buyers, according to a survey, are likely to try a new brand this year. It’s crucial to keep in mind that 8 out of 10 of these customers research new businesses online.
The market is dedicating an enormous amount of resources to giving every business owner the best possible exposure to the conditions of the global market and a platform where they may engage with their specific community. They want to be where a business operator can fulfil all their needs.
(The author is Director & CEO, ExportersIndia dot com which was established in 1997 and is owned and operated by Weblink.in Pvt Ltd. It works in web design, development, and e-commerce solutions. He can be reached on LinkedIn @ linkedin.com/in/ankit-gupta-b2840673. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the FinancialExpress.com.)
