Festive cheer is high, but wallets are tight

The holiday shopping season is in full swing, yet Indian consumers are being more discerning about their purchases. According to YouGov’s India Festive Shopping Report 2026, 26% of shoppers plan to adhere to their regular festive budget, shopping smartly, while 23% intend to reduce spending on non-essential items. Only 14% anticipate increasing their expenditure compared to last year.

However, online festive spending may exhibit a different pattern. Datum Intelligence’s 2026 Festive Outlook predicts online festive sales this year to reach Rs 1.50-1.55 lakh crore, up from Rs 1.20 lakh crore in 2025, indicating a growth rate of around 25-29%. This projection suggests that consumers may be making more frequent purchases rather than spending significantly more on each transaction.

Clothing and fashion dominate the spending, with 47% of consumers planning to allocate the bulk of their festive budget to these categories. Groceries and sweets follow at 36%, while jewelry accounts for 27%. Automotive sales are also on an upward trajectory, with passenger-vehicle sales rising 21.8% year-on-year to 4,54,574 units in September 2026, and two-wheeler sales increasing 13.5% to 24,63,103 units.

Despite this growth, FADA President Sai Giridhar cautioned that the 31.82% growth may be distorted due to deferred purchases prior to the GST 2.0 implementation.