The holiday season is about to begin, and this time it is going to be the memorable one. Almost two years after the Covid-19 pandemic, followed by the lockdown, people are now excited about exploring the world, meeting new people, going shopping offline and doing other exciting things. Interestingly, over 80% of Indians want to spend time with their family and friends, go on travel trips and make shopping during the holiday season.
American Express recently released a trend report “Amex-Trendex”, which highlights some interesting facts about how Indians prefer to celebrate their holidays.
The Covid-19 pandemic has made us realise the importance of family and friends. Most likely, as a result, about 75% of Indians would plan a holiday event with their loved ones, including family and friends during this holiday season. This is the highest among all surveyed countries.
Out of surveyed Indians, 82% of adults and 83% of Gen Z and Millennials are planning to spend the holidays with their families. Indians also want to start or restart the tradition of taking a family vacation during the holiday season as they feel that these are the memories they cherish most.
As offline events have made a comeback, a significant 62% of respondents intend to attend music festivals, whereas 56% anticipate watching a sporting event during holidays.
Indians want to boost the local economy
It is important to note that a sizeable number of Indians (69%) decided to support small businesses during this holiday season, thereby giving back to the local community.
- A whopping 92% of surveyed Indians expressed their desire to dine out at their favourite local restaurants to celebrate the holidays.
- About 88% of Indian respondents felt that small businesses had suffered greatly in the last two years, therefore they would support them by making purchases. About 70% of Indian GenZers and Millennials are more likely to shop at small businesses.
- Another 88% of respondents intend to make a charitable donation this holiday season to help the less fortunate.
- 44% of surveyed Indians want to volunteer in their community.
“We see two strong shifts in the Indian consumer’s spending patterns this holiday season. One, there is higher indulgence in experiences they would like to share with family and friends and two, there is a shift towards more thoughtful gifting like sustainable products from local brands, thereby supporting smaller entrepreneurs or local shop owners,” Said SANJAY KHANNA, CEO, AMERICAN EXPRESS BANKING CORP INDIA.
Indians believe in thoughtful shopping and gifting
Festivals and holidays are known for giving gifts to each other. “91% of Indian respondents agreed that they would spend more if it meant getting the right gift.“
- Approximately 88% of surveyed Indian consumers are prioritising thoughtful gifts over expensive ones this holiday season.
- Another 89% would prefer to buy sustainable products and gifts.
- According to 87% of Indians, they would buy experiences such as theatre tickets, treatments, concert tickets, etc., for their family and friends, instead of giving them material gifts during this winter holidays.
Indians desire credit card rewards on holiday spends
As per the American Express report, as many as 9 out of 10 Indian consumers are more likely to shop online if free shipping and free returns are given as an option. While 88% expressed their desire to earn credit card points and rewards for online purchases this holiday season.
- Interestingly, 86% of Indian consumers said that they have been saving their credit card rewards for holiday shopping.
- 70% of Indians claim that they are currently using a digital wallet like Paytm, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, etc., to make online payments. In exchange, they are rewarded with either cashback points or exciting deals that can be used to cover their holiday shopping expenses.
