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— A. Roy Chowdhury

Customers at a Tanishq outlet in Kolkata (file photo).

Anjali Prayag
Swetha Kannan

Bangalore, Oct. 20 The festival season seems to have erased memories of floods, flu and famine. Indians are shopping again and retailers, particularly in the organised segment, are back in high spirits thanks to sales figures that have ‘exceeded expectations’.

Consumer sentiment, which has been on a recovery path for some time now, peaked in the last 10 days, says Mr Chandu Kalro, Executive Vice-President (Marketing), TTK Prestige, which saw a chunk of its sales coming from large format stores.

Shopping trends this year indicate a stronger movement towards modern trade and faith in established brands, says Mr Thomas Varghese, Chief Executive Officer, Aditya Birla Retail, which has seen a 25 per cent spurt in Diwali sales over average growth during this festival. Festival sales at apparel retail Megamart, owned by Arvind Mills, also grew 60 per cent from last year. Future Group’s Central outlets have seen double-digit growth over last year, says Mr Rajesh Seth, Chief (Marketing), Central and Brand Factory.

Aided by promotional offers, retailers drew large crowds in the run-up to Diwali. Walk-ins at Megamart grew 30 per cent; ticket value also grew by 20 per cent, says Mr J. Suresh, Chief Executive Officer (Brands and Retail), Arvind Mills.

At Max, a Landmark group retail brand, the average ticket value grew 15 per cent during the last ten days across all its 20 stores, says Mr Vasanth Kumar, Executive Director, Max.

Gold sales, contrary to expectations, picked up in the last four days, says Mr Vinod Hayagriv, Managing Director, C. Krishniah Chetty and Sons, a high-end jewellery retailer with boutiques in Bangalore and Hyderabad. “We thought there would be a shrinkage due to high prices but in fact there was a 10 per cent spurt in volume of gold sold compared to last year. There was a 30 per cent growth in overall value as well.”

Dhanteras was especially good for jewellery retailer Tanishq, with that day alone being as big as a 15-day sales period, says Mr Saumen Bhaumik, General Manager and Head, Retailing, Tanishq, which hopes the consumer sentiment will spill into the upcoming winter wedding season.

Mr Arvind Singhal, Chairman of consulting firm Technopak Advisors, says though the importance of Diwali shopping is diminishing, there is an overall positive retail activity in the market. Retailers hope the consumer run will continue, unless the volatile commodity prices decide to play party pooper.

More Stories on : Marketing | Retailing | Gems & Jewellery

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