Meta study reveals consumers are likely to spend more than last year

New Delhi: With the festive season in full swing, Meta has unveiled findings from its study from the month of September on prevailing trends. Using the consumer insights platform GWI, the study indicates an optimism in consumer sentiment with half of respondents planning on spending more than last year. 

The study also tells that festive shopping trends continue to see disruption with 96% of shoppers expecting their shopping pattern to change this year on the back of online shopping, e-Commerce penetration, and the rise of quick commerce. 

Arun Srinivas, Director & Head, Ads Business (India) at Meta, said, “The study clearly shows that festive shopping trends in India are undergoing a dramatic shift with AI, adoption of quick-commerce, rise of micro influencers, and prevalence of regional language content playing a leading role in influencing festive purchases. On our platforms specifically, we are seeing strong adoption of all our key products this festive season - from AI powered ad formats to business messaging and Reels.”

One of the standout trends from the study indicates that e-commerce is on the rise and Quick Commerce is expanding into new categories with 1 in 4 electronics purchasers and 1 in 3 personal care buyers purchasing via Quick Commerce. The insights also reveal that over half of this year’s festive season, shoppers expect to shop more through e-commerce platforms. 

The study also indicates that micro-influencers with 10k to 100k followers are just as influential in driving festive purchases as macro-influencers with 100k to 1 million followers. Among the shoppers who rely on influencers to discover brands, deals, and sales events during the festive season, 40% of consumers are influenced by micro-influencers, 39% by macro-influencers, and 23% by nano-influencers, revealed the study. 

Added to this, regional language ads are driving engagement during festive sales as over 3 in 4 consumers say it’s important for them to see advertising in their local language during festive shopping. 

AI-powered discovery is propelling the discovery of brands, deals and sales during the festive period. The study revealed that 80% of festive shoppers discover deals and products on Meta. Furthermore, an impressive 85% of consumers are aware of at least one sales event through Meta.