65% of Indians Preferred to Shop Online in 2018 (Infographic) The second edition of Festive Shopping Index sheds light on the changes in consumer sentiments towards shopping

India, as a nation, celebrates a variety of festivals. With an array of religions co-existing in the country, the excuse to rejoice over a particular occasion is multiplied. Regardless of which festival holds relevance for which community, individuals from every nook and corner of the nation observe each of them. While a non-Sikh or Punjabi also acknowledge Gurupurab, a non-Muslim don't hesitate to savour the vermicelli on Eid.

The harmony and pride associated with recognizing and respecting festivals of every community are what connects one Indian to another. The penetration of the digital medium has acted as another connecting factor to bind the individuals together. Apart from networking, the online space has opened gates to many opportunities for the shopping crowd, ultimately influencing their purchase decisions.

High on Festivity

During the festive season, apart from celebrating the occasion with sheer enthusiasm, Indians love to shop. In the second edition of Festive Shopping Index, co-created by the Retailers Association of India (RAI) and LitmusWorld, a significant amount of changes were noted in consumer sentiments towards the holy practice of shopping during this season compared to last year.

Among the many facts revealed by the report, the dramatic increase in the percentage of consumers laying more emphasis on Customer Experience from just 26 per cent last year to 41 per cent this year indicated that consumers are consumers are becoming more alert about what they want. Customer loyalty now includes the crucial factor of Product and Service Experience.

Talking about the changing consumer behaviour, the Co-founder and COO of LitmusWorld Ramesh Natarajan said, "The consumer's voice is out. Brands cannot afford to ignore the emotions of their consumers. Customer Experience (CX) is here to stay and will be the not-so-secret weapon for digital transformation."

Unlike last year, Indians seems to be more comfortable with the idea of shopping online which made e-commerce platforms the most preferred medium for shopping in the festive season whereas lesser people appeared interested in visiting the standalone shops. The increase in disposable income seemingly improved the consumers' frequent stopovers at malls.

Dominating Factors

While clothes dominated the shopping category, mobile and electronics followed closely behind. However, in terms of spending, only 11 per cent of consumers were interested in spending up to INR 1 lakh whereas the maximum individuals spent up to INR 30,000 on purchasing commodities. A significant amount of people also seemed interested in spending between the given figures.

"The Festive Shopping Index is an effective way of understanding what consumers want to do during the festive season. It provides important insights about what consumers want, which retailers can use to formulate their strategies for the season to become more consumer-centric," said Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India.

India seems to be moving towards credit from cash and debit-driven economy. The survey revealed that the maximum shoppers, that is 42 per cent paid via credit card whereas net banking was the least utilized medium for payment. Here's the infographic by LitmusWorld shedding more light on the insights from Festive Shopping Index 2018: