It’s been a long time now since we have been suppressing the shopping bug in us, thanks to the brutal pandemic forcing the entire humankind to be cooped up inside homes.
So, isn’t it highly likely for most of us to make a beeline for the shopping outlets as soon as the restrictions are uplifted?
What Is Revenge Shopping?
Revenge Shopping, also known as retaliatory consumption, is an economics-based term that refers to the over-indulgence of people in retail therapy.
It mainly happens when people get to walk in their favourite stores after a long time. Groceries or other essentials are not counted in revenge shopping. Rather, it is all about shopping for non-essential stuff.
On April 4, 2020, when a French luxury goods manufacturer Hermès opened up after two whole months of lockdown in China’s Guangzhou province, it reportedly earned 2.7 million dollars in single-day sales at one store alone.
This could be the level of a splurge when people are set free to shop after being barred from it for a long span.
Also Read: Want To Save Money While Shopping Online? We Tell You How!
Revenge Shopping In India: A Possibility?
As India is also awaiting a phased upliftment of lockdown in June, the retailers might hope for the concept of revenge shopping to come into play. But there is a contradiction regarding this concept from fashion pundits in town.
Some say that revenge buying will surely prove to be a silver lining for India’s economy but in a vigilant manner.
Since layoffs are happening at a rapid pace and financial uncertainty is a big concern, generally, for the middle and lower-middle-class people, future orders will be more from the high-class people.
Sunil Sethi, chairman, Fashion Design Council of India, says that since social distancing is going to be in practice for a long time to come, people will not get to attend parties and events. Hence, this will reflect upon the spending of Indians.
Designer Monisha Jaising foresees revenge buying happening initially but not for the long term. Also, people understand that cutting down extravagant expenses is the key to survival. So, leaving aside high-income people, mostly Indians may stick to purchasing essentials even after easing down of restrictions.
Millennials Ahead In The Queue
“When the economy opens up, the initial shoppers will be millennials going for revenge buying, discount seekers and bargain hunters,” Retailers Association of India (RAI) said in a statement.
Millennials are more likely to spring upon the markets.
In the post-lockdown era, e-commerce will surely emerge as a winner, be it revenge buying or shopping for essentials.
As far as revenge shopping is concerned in particular, brands with a loyal customer base will be the first to get the spike. Other manufacturers and retailers might need to lure customers with discounts and down-pricing, so that customers can fulfill their desires for revenge without burning a hole in their pocket.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Financial Express, Times Of India, The Economic Times
Find The Blogger: @ELadki
This post is tagged under: fashion, buying, retail, retailers, shops, Hermes, China, worldwide, brands, revenge shopping, revenge buying, Indian markets, malls, shops to open, social distancing, pandemic, covid 19, coronavirus, will people come out, millennials, buying, economy, consumption, income
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Can India become more of an export economy rather than a consumer economy? Not saying exports never happened before but India is more into consumption than exports. Before Coronavirus itself, the economy had challenges as the saturation happened since India doesn’t have that many who are truly into Middle Income and Higher Income. Most are Lower Middle Income or below which is why India is a Lower Middle Income Nation where just 4 states including union territories of India have more than 4000$ Nominal Per Capita Income while India has around 2000$ Nominal Per Capita Income.
Before the Coronavirus, India had about 390 Million People who are Poor while Extremely Poor goes to about 80 to 100 Million. The Coronavirus has knocked out 100s of Millions without Jobs and into Poverty including Many into Extreme Poverty.
So, Revenge Buying may not happen all that much within India. Though Export side, that would help including to improve Standard of Living of many in India but Basics including Quality would need to be improved in Many Areas, Innovation and so on (Not Enough Just having Made in India as Quality too is important where Technical and Analytical Skills including Natural Sciences alone aren’t enough as need Social Sciences, Humanities including Arts, Applied Sciences too for Innovation, Creative/Critical and Logical/Out-of-the-box Thinking and Relationship Building which includes In-depth Global Research/reading too in all those areas).
China on the other hand faces challenges with its reputation for fudging things and trying to do what other nations before it have done for Power – USA, Ancient India, Ancient China, Britain, etc (Yes, Ancient India did it too via South Indian Kingdoms colonising South East Asia and North Indian Kingdoms going up to Central Asia. Even now, India and rest of the world want resources via Africa and elsewhere). China too is doing same thing and MANIPULATING. Otherwise, before Coronavirus, it was a Partly Developed Nation that just needed to improve on its Nominal Per Capita Income a bit to become Fully Developed Country (30 years back, 1 of the Criteria to be a Developed Country was to have a Nominal Per Capita Income of 6000$ while now, it is bit above $12000. China in last 30 years was a Manufacturing Export Power that now has to go more into Disruptive Innovations with Consumptions if can but its Relationship with many nations has been damaged quite a bit due to the Virus Scenario). So, India has a long way to go to be compared with China including the fact that there are more Middle Class and Richer Chinese than in India