Of Consumer Confidence....

The Indian consumer's confidence level is not too high but he has lately been buying like crazy, according to findings of Nielsen, which regularly tracks consumer buying.
Piyush Mathur, president of Nielsen India, said in a statement that despite a marginal drop in their confidence level, they have been making much more discretionary spending than before.
Better still, says Mathur, consumers are thinking of loosening their purse strings over the next few months for home improvement, holidays and entertainment.
Consumer confidence in India dropped to 120 in the first quarter of calendar 2013 from 121 in the preceding quarter. Globally, at 122 Indonesian consumers were the most confident. A year back, India's index was 123.
Industry experts say retailers are positing consistent profits and decent sales.Consumer psychologists say people cannot hold back purchases in a long-drawn economic crisis. Economists say it is but natural for people to gravitate towards finer products once their basic needs are fulfilled.
The last quarter showed more Indians spending of spare cash on holidays: 39 per cent of the sample surveyed, up from 28 per cent in the preceding quarter. Almost two in five (38 per cent) online urban Indian respondents indicated focusing on home improvement, an increase of 11 per cent. Intent to spend on out-of-home entertainment also increased (26 per cent respondents against 19 per cent).As many as 54 per cent of the Indian respondents see themselves buying things they want or need over the next 12 months.