<p>With the onset of festive season, 80 per cent of Indian consumers are looking forward to shopping, with both online and physical stores coming into consideration, reflecting the rise of omni-channel purchases, according to a survey by RAI.</p>.<p>As per the Festive Shopping Index 2020 by the Retailers Association of India (RAI) and LitmusWorld, 75 per cent of consumers are shopping online but 66 per cent of them are also considering shopping in stand-alone stores as well as malls (37 per cent).</p>.<p>"While online is the primary mode of discovery, consumers are looking forward to purchasing at physical stores," it said.</p>.<p>Having been confined to their homes for so long away from relatives and friends, there seems to be some excitement around gifting, highlighting the need to rekindle relationships and reconnect, it added.</p>.<p>"About 23 per cent of respondents have expressed their intent to purchase gifts along with items for their personal use," the survey said.</p>.<p>In terms of consumer interest, apparel topped with 53 per cent, followed by home appliances and electronics (47 per cent), work-from-home products (37 per cent) and home furniture (34 per cent).</p>.<p>The survey, which interviewed over 800 consumers across different cities in India, also found that these consumers prefer paying through digital modes of payment such as credit cards, debit cards, mobile wallets and UPI.</p>.<p>Commenting on the findings, RAI CEO Kumar Rajagopalan said,"Customers do feel the need to reconnect with a sense of cheer and are slowly coming out to shop. However, they may not shop in the same way they have been shopping all these years. There is a lot of reliance on what is being shown to them digitally."</p>.<p>Retailers are looking at the festive season with some amount of cautious optimism. We believe that all formats of retail will see a resurgence but on an omni-channel basis, he added.</p>.<p>In spite of the pandemic, the Indian consumer is still very excited for the festive shopping season and that's a big positive for retailers, LitmusWorld Head of Marketing & Partnerships Khushaal Talreja said.</p>.<p>"However, the industry will need to respond with interesting value propositions and superior customer experience across offline and online channels to boost festive demand and increase the wallet share of consumers," Talreja added.</p>
<p>With the onset of festive season, 80 per cent of Indian consumers are looking forward to shopping, with both online and physical stores coming into consideration, reflecting the rise of omni-channel purchases, according to a survey by RAI.</p>.<p>As per the Festive Shopping Index 2020 by the Retailers Association of India (RAI) and LitmusWorld, 75 per cent of consumers are shopping online but 66 per cent of them are also considering shopping in stand-alone stores as well as malls (37 per cent).</p>.<p>"While online is the primary mode of discovery, consumers are looking forward to purchasing at physical stores," it said.</p>.<p>Having been confined to their homes for so long away from relatives and friends, there seems to be some excitement around gifting, highlighting the need to rekindle relationships and reconnect, it added.</p>.<p>"About 23 per cent of respondents have expressed their intent to purchase gifts along with items for their personal use," the survey said.</p>.<p>In terms of consumer interest, apparel topped with 53 per cent, followed by home appliances and electronics (47 per cent), work-from-home products (37 per cent) and home furniture (34 per cent).</p>.<p>The survey, which interviewed over 800 consumers across different cities in India, also found that these consumers prefer paying through digital modes of payment such as credit cards, debit cards, mobile wallets and UPI.</p>.<p>Commenting on the findings, RAI CEO Kumar Rajagopalan said,"Customers do feel the need to reconnect with a sense of cheer and are slowly coming out to shop. However, they may not shop in the same way they have been shopping all these years. There is a lot of reliance on what is being shown to them digitally."</p>.<p>Retailers are looking at the festive season with some amount of cautious optimism. We believe that all formats of retail will see a resurgence but on an omni-channel basis, he added.</p>.<p>In spite of the pandemic, the Indian consumer is still very excited for the festive shopping season and that's a big positive for retailers, LitmusWorld Head of Marketing & Partnerships Khushaal Talreja said.</p>.<p>"However, the industry will need to respond with interesting value propositions and superior customer experience across offline and online channels to boost festive demand and increase the wallet share of consumers," Talreja added.</p>