Medical bills still bother a huge majority of people, Axis My India consumer sentiment index shows
MUMBAI, Sep 8 (The CONNECT) – As the festive season approaches, consumers are slowly stepping out – as proven by increased numbers for non-essential spending and mobility.
This is the finding of the India Consumer Sentiment Index for the month of August compiled by Axis My India, a leading consumer data intelligence company.
This should have a positive effect on the hospitality industry which has been severely affected due to the pandemic, Pradeep Gupta, CMD, Axis My India, said.
The survey was carried out via Computer Aided Telephonic Interviews with a sample size of 10482 people. 72% of the people surveyed were male and 28% female. The respondents were from 28 states and 7 Union Territories.
When asked will you shop more or less this festive season, 42% of families said they will shop more or same as compared to last year. This gives an indication that there is sense of cautious optimism and the pent-up demand or degree of revenge shopping which happened last year might not be the same this year. This expected increase in spends is higher among private & government service employees.
Gupta said, tourism, however, continues to be a concern as 83% of the respondents are still averse to travelling. Economic sentiment is looking buoyant with ~64% of the respondents expecting the Sensex to cross 60,000 before the end of this year. Along with the nation-wide vaccination drive, over 96% respondents pledging to adhere to all covid protocols, it is hoped that there will not be a surge in cases post the festive season.
About 88% of the office going individuals were happy that offices are starting to open and felt that productivity is better from office, while 83% are not yet looking at a travel/holiday this year and 15% mentioned they would only travel domestically.
Showing a sign of self-maturity, 96% people said they will implement Covid appropriate behaviour this festive and hopefully this will reduce the level of cases in case the 3rd wave strikes.
On current euphoria around the Sensex, of those who invest, 64% believe that the BSE Sensex will cross the mark of 60,000 in the next few months with 29% saying it will come down. Additionally, in a true reflection of Indian investor population there is still a vast majority of 74% who don’t invest yet in stock market.
Gupta said a net positive score of an additional 5.5 points over the last month indicates a steady progress towards social and economic normalcy, with this trend expected to improve further in the next few months. Overall, we hold a cautious but optimistic outlook on consumer sentiments. By plugging into economically and culturally significant data-points, the CSI will try to gauge, interpret, and predict the impact of macro factors on the lives of the average India across demography & geographies. Our mission is to bring out the most authentic voices via the rigour of data and analytics”
