Thanks to Credit Suisse Research, a research done by AC Nielsen on the Emerging Markets Consumer has some very revealing facts for Canadian and US businesses looking to India as a potential market. The survey was done among 13,000 adults in Brazil, India, China, Russia, Latin America, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
Key pointers:
- Mood of Confidence- 43% of Indian consumers feel that the state of their personal finance over the next six months will be better. 54% feel that it will remain as good as it is. Only 3%, lowest for all countries surveyed, feel it will get worse.
- The number of high-income households[HH], is more than twice that of Russia, despite the GDP per capita being 80% lower than Russia
- Spending will move from ‘necessity’ to discretionary- survey shows that there is a clear and consistent pattern in consumption of branded goods as income levels improve. And of international brands to local brands at the affluent level.
- A priority that stands out for the Indian consumer is education. Household spending on education is by far the highest within the survey at around 7.5% (more than twice that of Russia, at 3.1%). Add to that is the finding that the percentage of school age population to the total population stands the highest at 20%. Both these factors clearly point to the potential that India holds for the education sector
- Some purchase intentions across low to affluent income groups, for the next 12 months- 61 to 67% expect to spend more on dairy products, 36 to 61% expect to spend more on feminine hygiene products, 27 to 41% on bottled water, 42 to 50% on soda-pop, 4 to 10% more on healthcare, 8 to 13% more on education and training, 18 to 28% on purchasing branded sports shoes, 2 to 4% on purchasing smart phones, 4 to 10% on purchasing computers
Consumption is certainly a big story for India, given the huge, young population, rising affluence, increased urbanisation and change in psyche. Most products and brands of developed markets across all categories tend to benefit. Specifically the education, healthcare, food and beverage, entertainment, lifestyle products and brands form Canada and the US have a great opportunity.
More on India’s consumer from the Credit Suisse Emerging Markets Survey will be coming up in Part II. Happy hunting.
Rmagine 