A Time Of Thrift

What’s Down

• Air Travel: With companies leading the way, people are flying significantly less
• Grocery/personal care: Spending has taken a visible hit, slowdown evident
• Apparel/furniture: Discounts are deep but customers are using discretion
• Auto: Terrible sales. The silver lining is that small cars are selling better.
• Consumer goods: Loan growth is healthy, but driven again by deep discounts

What’s Stagnant

• Utilities & Fuel: Despite cheaper fuel, spending on utilities remains constant
• Entertainment: Multiplexes reporting no drop in footfalls, ticket prices up by 10 per cent
• Dining: Though restaurants look empty, overall spends on dining are being maintained
• Liquor: Sales in five-star hotels have been hit, but retail liquor sales have increased

What’s Up

• Mobile: While handset sales are down, connections continue to grow at a good clip
• Healthcare/education: Significant rise in costs as well as loans
• Pockets of affluence: Ultra-rich consumers are insulated from the slowdown

• Homes: Wait-and-watch attitude is hurting sales and prices

• Deposits: Shift towards deposits in savings pie. Also, towards public sector banks.

• Equity: Investments in equity, mutual funds down, people looking for safer options—like capital guarantee schemes and gold

(Personal loan growth between Aug '08 and Dec '08 in percentage)

Source: RBI

Source: KSA Technopak, January 2009

Source: Industry; figures are % of total spends