Jewellery saw the biggest spends on CMS channels with a total value of ₹651 crore in the month of December, compared with ₹541 crore in January last year. Ecommerce transactions continued their bumper ride with payments totalling ₹430 crore in December, compared with ₹366 crore in January last year.

India's retail expenditure in December continued its northward trajectory, climbing about a fifth over November and surpassing that of last March by 12%, illustrating sustainable rebound in consumer demand that should help underpin broader economic growth.

Data collated by leading cash management company CMS Info-Systems, which tracks 98% of Indian districts through its 53,000 retail points and 62,000 ATM installations, showed that total retail payments on its channels were ₹14,488 crore in December versus ₹12,218 crore in November and ₹12,826 crore in March 2020.

The biggest rise was seen in spending related to jewellery, ecommerce, fastmoving consumer goods (FMCG), consumer durables, insurance, utility payments, healthcare, logistics and transportation.

"If we look at how Q3 performed and if the same momentum continues in Q4, we will be in a position to close this year where we ended March 2020, ensuring that the pandemic would not leave a permanent impact on our businesses," said Anush Raghavan, head, cash business unit, CMS Info-Systems.


As restrictions ease further, spending is likely to climb. "The positive takeaway is that there has been a sharp recovery in the September quarter, most of which has been led by consumption," Raghavan said.


"As wider swathes of the economy open up and people gain the confidence to step out, it will be a sustained recovery."

Jewellery saw the biggest spends on CMS channels with a total value of ₹651 crore in the month of December, compared with ₹541 crore in January last year. Ecommerce transactions continued their bumper ride with payments totalling ₹430 crore in December, compared with ₹366 crore in January last year.

About ₹3,160 crore of insurance payments were made in December versus ₹3,233 crore in January 2020. Gradual unlocking underway through the third quarter had a positive impact on the logistics and transportation space, which also surpassed spending of pre-pandemic levels at ₹1,716 crore in December, versus ₹1,618 crore in January last year.

To be sure, expenditure on air travel, discretionary items and media and entertainment remained soft. CMS recorded ₹15 crore of air travel expenses on its channels — less than half of January 2020.

Media and entertainment continued to be the worst hit at spends worth ₹6 crore against ₹109 crore in January. Expenditure on railway bookings also remained tepid, with payments of ₹165 crore in the month against ₹470 crore in January 2020.

According to Rajeev Agarwal, CEO at point of sale deployer Innoviti, the blended spend across stores in India is "more or less back to pre-covid-19 levels." "Barring a few segments such as fashion, apparel, restaurant and entertainment, we are seeing that expenditure has resumed," Agarwal said. "In some cases, such as electronics and healthcare, it exceeded the levels seen before the pandemic."

Data from stores powered by Innoviti showed that fashion and apparel spend volumes were at 82%-85% of the same period last year. In entertainment and restaurant categories, they were 45% and 60%, respectively, said Agarwal.

"We anticipate these segments, especially entertainment and dining, to bounce back in the next three to six months depending on the availability of vaccine shots for the population," said Agarwal.

Ketan Doshi, managing director of rural-focused fintech Pay Point India, said that domestic remittances, spends on travel and small-ticket grocery purchases returned to the pre-pandemic normal in December.

"We are picking up elevated spendings at our points in most tourist towns across the country, which is a sign that travel is back to the pre-pandemic level. Two segments where we saw marked recovery in the month were food and beverages (F&B) and travel," said Doshi. "This can be because of the pent-up demand. A lot of these transactions have also converted to digital during the pandemic, which is also reflected in the data."

Courtesy: Economic Times