It’s the onset of the festival season in India when consumers unleash their festive spirit through big-ticket purchases. According to the Ipsos IndiaBus Festival Outlook 2022, at least 2 in 3 citizens (69 per cent) are excited about the upcoming festival season and look forward to splurging on items like apparel, vehicles, home decor, property, home appliances, mobile phones, laptops, etc. Interestingly, women are seen to be more excited about spending (73 per cent) over men (67 per cent), and it was also interesting to see the age-band disparities with 18-30 year olds more excited about festival shopping (74 per cent) vis-à-vis 31-45 age band (67 per cent) and 45+ age band (66 per cent). Similarly, SEC A was more enthused about shopping (76 per cent) versus SEC C.

Big City versus Small City

The survey also showed city-wise trends. Metros are seen as more upbeat about spending (79 per cent), followed by tier 1 towns (74 per cent) than tier 2 (65 per cent) and tier 3 cities (61 per cent). Though, region-wise differences are quite stark. West (81 per cent) and north (79 per cent) are seen to be more enthused about festival shopping while the south (56 per cent) and east (50 per cent) were relatively subdued.

Parijat Chakraborty, Group Service Line Leader, Public Affairs and Corporate Reputation, Ipsos India, not surprised by the findings says, "The survey reflects the enthusiasm with Indians gearing up for the festival season. The festival has already begun with Durga Puja festivities on. Before that, we had the Ganesh Chaturthi and Eid, though festival shopping peaks around Navratras, Dhanteras and Diwali, when it is considered most auspicious to buy, new big-ticket items. Also, it is the time of the year for upgradation, whether buying a new car or a new bigger TV, mobile phone, etc. New clothes, sweets, and home decor are a given. There is positivity and happiness in the air around the festival season, with spending predicted across socio-economic groups, of course, they will cut the coat, according to the cloth, and budgets and how much they spend would depend upon disposable incomes, etc."

Macro factors to have less impact on festival spending

Almost 1 in 2 of citizens polled (48 per cent) has said they would spend higher this year as compared to the previous year, while 29 per cent has said they would spend the same as last year, while 23 per cent would spend lower this year. Across cities, age groups and socio-economic groups, a similar pattern was seen.

"The last two years of the pandemic had greatly impacted the sentiment around the festival season, almost taking the sheen off, with the covid fear, restrictions and the overall gloomy mood. But now the consumers are on the rebound, even with inflation and the impact of war in Ukraine; we are likely to see revenge spending and citizens are looking forward to the festival season to loosen their purse strings. Of course, some will spend more and some less. And some will go overboard capitalising on all the new launches in gizmos and passenger vehicles riding on easy finance options," adds Chakraborty.