Indians expected to spend more this Diwali than last year: PayPal survey

Despite the weakened economy, Indians are entering into the festive spirit with 45 per cent expected to spend more during the upcoming holiday season than they did last year, according to a PayPal survey released today.

The average Diwali spend amongst Indians this year is $213 with household items, health and beauty, entertainment and vouchers or gift cards topping the Diwali gift list.

Whilst two of out five Singaporeans respondents would rather not have to shop for holiday gifts and items at all, 70 per cent of Indians are keen to keep the holiday spirit alive without fail.

Out of the four countries surveyed across South East Asia, Indians also appear to be the savviest at online shopping with three quarters intending to shop online during the upcoming festive period, citing time (75 per cent), crowds (65 per cent) and access to a wider range of products (60 per cent) as the main reasons for avoiding the shops.

Despite favouring their home grown talent, with 69 per cent of online shoppers in India perceiving local merchants to be at least on par if not better as overseas merchants, they still view lower prices, free shipping and greater choice as areas where online merchants are much stronger. Indian online shoppers are looking for product quality guarantees, evidence of good website payment security and competitive prices when it comes to their online shopping experience.

The PayPal survey was conducted by BlackBox from 17 to 30 August. There were 300 respondents per country in India, Singapore and Malaysia and 303 in Thailand. Respondents were made up of online and non-online shoppers.