Luxury spending may rise this festive season

livemint.com:

consumer spending is set to rise, particularly in clothing, personal care (12%), and recreation, entertainment, and leisure (14%). These trends hint at increased spending as the festive season nears, it added. Each sector is representing a different mood, said Singh.

Automotive companies are very “upbeat" and building inventories for the festivities. “While demand for new cars has softened a little compared to same period last year (August), it is still strong. Luxury brands are getting ready big time because they feel growth will continue." Deloitte’s Consumer Signal, or Global State of the Consumer Tracker is an online panel monthly survey across 24 countries.

The survey targets approximately 1,000 adults, 18 years and older, across countries. Response data from India and South Africa are likely to be over representative of the urban, higher income populations. Indians are also planning to travel, with domestic flight bookings up (74% in August) and international flight bookings at 58% compared to July.

Demand for luxury hotels also rose 5% in August over July. Besides, 63% of consumers planned to buy a new vehicle within six months up 4% from July, it said. In August, 77% of consumers were not worried about credit card debt, and 61% had no intention to postpone big ticket purchases.