An influx of modern malls has prompted a shift in clothing, accessories and footwear buying habits in India, but till now most purchases are made in traditional markets, according to a report on Indian consumer trends.
Summary
· Up to 90% of shoppers still choose to buy clothing, accessories and footwear in traditional Indian local markets or bigger shopping areas. Only around 7% currently shop in malls.
· The market for branded goods is bigger for men than women, and more men shop in malls. The women's clothing, footwear and accessories market remains dominated by ethnic clothing and tailoring.
· While advertising is a factor that influences some shoppers, most are swayed by price, quality of service and relationships that may have been built up over many years.
· Most Indian shoppers will not travel far to buy apparel or accessories. The majority of shopping trips made are under 5km, with most under 1km.
· The influx of organised retail is expected to have a big effect on the total market over the coming years, with local retailers needing to enhance their offers to compete with incoming businesses.
Indian consumers are changing rapidly when it comes to shopping for clothing and accessories.
Until now the overwhelming number of shoppers has chosen to buy apparel at local markets or "popular shopping markets". But the influx of more modern shopping malls could change that.
Currently between 80% and 90% of consumers choose to shop at traditional locations, with under 7% going to shopping malls.
Different Markets & Changes
A popular shopping market is defined as a high street or market area full of shops, large and small, branded and unbranded, primarily dominated by those selling apparel.
A local neighbourhood market is smaller and caters primarily to people living nearby. It has a higher concentration of unbranded shops.
For buying Western casual clothing, 39% of the population prefers shopping in local neighbour or colony markets, 47% in popular big shopping markets in the city, 8% in markets popular for selling that product and 7% in shopping malls or a large shopping complex. The numbers are near-identical for Western formal clothing, at 38%, 48%, 8% and 7% respectively.
"This will change, but the change may not be drastic at least for the next few years. Modern retailing formats are attracting a lot of consumers. There is a significant amount of shopping that is taking place at the modern formats, but there are still very strong links with the markets, where a substantial amount of the shopping takes place.
"This is especially true for shopping for women, where most of the apparel bought is still unbranded.
Who shops at the mall?
"Consumers who frequent malls are from the higher socio-economic strata."
"Also there are a large proportion of male shoppers in a mall, given the higher presence of branded outlets at malls. Women shoppers would be there more for western wear or fusion wear and for accessory shopping.
Advertising and other influences
When it comes to making decisions about what to buy, India's consumers are mostly independent, with 81-88% saying they choose what to purchase, across all footwear and apparel categories.
Fathers have the next biggest influence, chiefly in sports shoes, where 8% of consumers consult their father. Husbands' opinions only count for 2-3% of people and it is roughly the same for mothers, other family members and friends.
However, individuals are influenced by advertising and other factors when it comes to buying apparel and accessories brands.
"Advertising for apparel largely works as an awareness builder; people are likely to check out new brands or outlets because of any advertising they have seen. When the brand ambassador is a celebrity (in most cases this would be a Bollywood star in India), visibility is enhanced."
"But the decision to buy from a particular outlet is driven by range, the quality of service and price (in the case of unbranded apparel) offered at the outlet.
"These local unbranded outlets have a large base of loyal customers who still carry out a substantial part of their shopping there because of the personalized attention they receive and that fact that the relationship has been established over years. Word of mouth is also a critical factor."
Distances travelled to shop
Over a third of Indian shoppers travel less than 1km to go shopping for apparel and accessories. Around another third might consider going between 1-2km to shop, leaving about 25% prepared to travel 2-5km and between 6-9% willing to travel 5-10km. Just 3% would travel more than 10km to shop for apparel and accessories.
Heavy traffic, shortage of parking spaces and lack of adequate and reliable public transport all deter consumers from travelling long distances. Most cities with large markets now also have malls, which means people do not have to travel far.
"The one motivating factor for travelling long distances would be a substantial value seen in terms of price, and availability of merchandise not available in regular markets.
Market opportunities
This concludes that there could be plenty of opportunities for value-driven brands in the Indian apparel and accessories market.
Value-driven brands that can ensure quality could perform well in the Indian market, especially in men's ready-to-wear. The womenswear sector will take little more longer to change as the bulk of clothing is still bought from local markets or tailored.
However, the market is expected to change dramatically over the next five years,"Organised retail is poised for tremendous growth from its current 4%. This will have an impact both on consumer shopping behaviour and on offerings by current local retailers.
"As organised retail grows and shoppers start to feel the benefits and get used to modern retail environments, the local players will start enhancing their offers,".
