India’s “immense potential” has been touted by global economists for some time now, with American management and consulting firm A.T Kearney’s ranking India number one on its 2017 Global Retail Development Index. While the general population has traditionally only shopped three times a year (for birthdays, the New Year and on applicable religious holiday), Indians have now shifted to shopping at least 12 times a year on average. And with a population of over 1.3 billion, even small increases in shopping on in individual level means a lot more spending across the country.



The Indian retail industry accounts for over 10% of the country’s GDP and about 8% of employment opportunities. According to a 2017 study by the India Brand Equity Foundation, the country has the fifth largest retail sector in the world. As Indians’ affluence grows, those who have the means are putting their disposable income towards apparel. “Indians are some of the largest spenders on apparel and fashion. After home and food, fashion is the third biggest category for Indian spends,” says Ahuja.

“There’s little difference between the New Delhi and New York customer, because India now desires what people all [around] the world want.” But it’s not just apparel in general that affluent Indians are buying, but more specifically Western-style clothing, which most of the country perceives as aspirational. The sportswear market in India has grown from ₹24,000 INR in 2014 to ₹37,000 INR in 2016 at more than 50 percent over the past two years. The segment’s global increase stood at 7%, in comparison.



In addition to spending more money, Indians are, like the rest of the world, spending more time online and that means more online shopping as well. About 60% of urban India has adopted smartphones, roughly translating to 450 million users. Additionally about 55 million Indians shop online, nearly 90% of which are between the ages of 18 to 35 according to Motilal Oswal. Indian e-commerce sales are expected to reach $120 billion USD by the year 2020.

