According to a recent research released on Thursday, 74% of Indians are worried about their personal financial condition, compared to 50% of people worldwide, and 63% of Indian consumers are completely cutting down on non-essential expenditure.
The majority of Indian consumers, according to the 2023 PwC Global Consumer Insights Pulse report, anticipate cutting back on spending over the next six months across all surveyed categories. This represents a significant decrease in anticipated spending across all categories since the previous pulse survey in June 2022.
“Consumers will continue to expect top-notch purchasing experiences across both physical and digital channels, and firms will face challenges in cutting costs, improving availability, and “getting local.” The unmistakable increases in digital channel usage and the intention to spend more on vacation in the next months continue to be the silver lining in this situation, according to Ravi Kapoor, Partner and Head – Retail & Consumer, PwC India.
The survey also said that over the next six months, the travel, fashion, and luxury and premium goods sectors are predicted to have the largest percentage of consumer spending decreases, while the grocery category is anticipated to experience the smallest fall.
Consumers in India believe they would shop at stores that deliver products for free or at a discount, according to 47% of them.
According to the report, supply chain problems, which are causing longer lines and busier store locations, as well as product availability (28%) are all having an effect on consumer behaviour. Half of Indian consumers (50%) said that rising prices continue to be the most common problem they encounter when shopping in-store.
Despite a projected reduction in expenditure and difficult economic times, Indian customers said they are still prepared to pay extra for environmentally friendly goods.
More than 88% of respondents said they would pay extra for a product if it were developed or sourced locally, made of recyclable, sustainable, or environmentally friendly materials (87%), or created by a business known for its ethical business practises (87 per cent).