The Hindu Business Line : Hey big spender!

Air-conditioning, convenient racks for display, articulate bi-lingual sales staff, better service and a glamour tag attached to shopping, have ensured that women are no longer the butt of male jokes when it comes to being extravagant spenders.

Catch a man preening himself before a mirrored surface, giving the last minute touches to his already well coiffured hair, and you are likely to smile indulgently at him rather than tease him for his `femaleness'. For, today, one expects men, especially those representing the corporate industry, to be in tune with international trends, be it fashion, cuisine, social causes television or cinema. The way a man presents himself to the outer world determines how he will be perceived.

Going by what image consultations and brand specialists have to say, "first impressions do matter, for the person across, who could be a potential client, may not have another chance to re-gauge and change his opinion of you".

According to Rashmi Chugh, former Editor, Hindustan Times, "There was a time when men left their wardrobe planning and shopping to their mothers, girl friends, sisters and wives. Not so any longer. They are fussy about what to wear, which gyms and clubs to patronise, what names to drop and which political party/politician's views to endorse. Even essentials such as their residential address, mobile phones, cars, computers, digital diaries and other convenience gizmos have to echo the current trend, if not make them trendsetters in the first place."

No longer a woman's domain, men's shopping expeditions are fast becoming women's worst nightmare. Budgets go haywire as the men in their lives want to live life king size.

This newfound desire to splurge is not a result of the increased exposure vis-à-vis the media and a strong multinational influence where executives and managers get to interact with their foreign counterparts. Larger disposable incomes, a more liberal travel policy within the company, a growing awareness to have a life beyond the mandatory 9 a.m.-5 p.m. office job and an easy access to branded products have created a niche of big time spenders from the corporate and business community. Credit cards have made the task easy and so have the various instalment-based schemes for consumer durables, that operate on the buy-now -pay-later model. According to a source, the other reason why men are spending so much on themselves is that, "with women looking younger and prettier not to talk of getting choosier too, there is enormous pressure on men to match up in every which way".

The festive season makes the vulgarity of big spending almost legitimate. With a near 100 per cent increase in wining, dining, partying and card playing in the Punjabi-dominated Northern part of India, money flows on everything that helps in enhancing visibility, networking and PR.

Kamal Kapoor, CEO of Kaps Advertising, finds the festive season an ideal time to buy `white goods'. Being in the service industry, he likes to give one classy gift to his clients a year, and personally takes interest in identifying and customising the product. He also belongs to the young breed of self-made entrepreneurs who realised, early, the importance of working hard and playing just as hard. He decided not to wait till retirement to pursue personal hobbies and interests. Into golf and antiques, both expensive pursuits, he spends a lot of the "allowance" his wife allocates for him on these two passions.

Also, being house proud, he finds Diwali is just the right time to give his house a new look. It could be something as simple as buying the much-coveted Piano or undertaking the entire painting and refurbishing operation. He and his wife Hema make a joint trip to leading departmental stores to stock up on a new assortment of crockery and a few stand-alone pieces, to add novelty and build curiosity value. Kamal likes to give his wife credit for aesthetically doing up the house, though she insists that it is his touch that makes the million-dollar difference. During his travels abroad, he has reduced the purchasing of clothes, chocolates and perfumes since you get them here and, instead, picks up exclusive pieces and souvenirs, which have added character and novelty to their home.

Men as classy homemakers is a new trend. Abhinav Prasad, a software programmer with Siemens, has just spent close to Rs 10 lakh in making a den in the old mansion owned by his parents in Hauz Khas, and has plans of adding a wooden dance floor and a whacky bar before next year's Diwali rolls in.

The profile of the middle-class and upper middle-class male shopper has definitely seen a major transformation. It is quite hip to find a man engaged in an animated conversation at a party discussing where he buys his organic biscuits or fresh asparagus from, or where he found the most exquisite beaded cushion covers to match the chaise lounge he picked up from a kabari bazaar, or which carpenter copied a Gautier study desk for him.

Connaught Place (CP) used to be Delhi's most popular shopping area till the super markets, departmental stores and shopping malls came up. Even the so-called satellite townships of Noida, Greater Noida, Dwarka and Gurgaon are being surveyed to have multi-brand specialty stores giving the old time colonial favourite a thumbs down.

In order to restore some of the glory, the shopkeepers association of CP gets together twice a year and holds extended sales with attractive prizes, roping in celebrities, spending huge amounts on advertising to lure the spenders back into their fold.

According to Jagdish Chander, who has been retailing Raymonds for over five decades, "The profile of the male shopper has changed. Today, the average guy who walks in has more class, is definitely more aware and sure of what he is looking for. No more ambivalent buying for him. He has specific demands and an individualist style of dressing. He may be more indulgent than his wife, not being well versed in the art of bargaining and/or comparative price trends, but he is also more likely to pick up an extra odd thing. We see a lot of sense in wooing him."

Indeed, the advent of shopping malls has made sure that men come in droves to partake in the shopping experience, and when some of these places are equipped with eateries, coffee bars and beer pubs the attraction becomes stronger.

Air-conditioning, fixed prices, convenient racks for display, articulate bi-lingual sales staff, a qualitatively better service culture and a glamour tag attached to shopping per se, have ensured that women are no longer the butt of male jokes when it comes to being extravagant spenders.

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