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While large retailers and types are seeing a 25%-30% dip in sales this Deepavali, smaller gamers say enterprise is down 50%-60%.
A couple of retailers with State-wide presence famous that sales had been down in the Chennai market, whereas branches in tier-2 and tier-Three cities had been witnessing good enterprise.
“Sales are down 25%, and though people are walking in, the regular Deepavali crowd is missing,” stated P.A. Ravindran, common supervisor of Chennai Silks. He stated retail companies in Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruppur had been faring properly.
“The office-going crowd that left Chennai is yet to come back, and that’s one reason why sales are down in the city and going on well in the districts,” he added.
At Jeyachandran Textiles, sales are down by over 70%. “A majority of our customers are middle-class families who commute by suburban trains. With trains yet to resume operations, that crowd is staying away. Footfalls are good during the weekends, but on weekdays, most shops look deserted,” stated Sundar J., managing director of Jeyachandran Textiles. Mr. Sundar additionally defined that elders (referring to senior relations/dad and mom) had been chopping down on their budgets and specializing in shopping for high quality garments for kids.
Work-from-home apparel
Retailers stated ladies who normally purchase costly saris for Deepavali had been now selecting up these with a lower cost tag. Work-from-home apparel was the most sought-after by customers. Demand had been good for informal clothes. “With the markets opening up and people venturing out, some festive buying is definitely happening. We have seen a move towards quality, away from quantity, but there is certainly a need to shop and dress up for some festivities post-COVID, considering the impact the lockdown has had on people,” stated Siddharth Bindra, managing director of BIBA.
“Chennai sales have not picked up, and a lot of our stores are in malls. We are noticing that footfalls at malls are still much lower than at high streets. Stores in the rest of Tamil Nadu are slowly recovering, and we are hopeful that in the next two weeks, we will see some traction,” he added.
“When it comes to personal purchases, there has not been much change in the purchasing budget. But purchase of saris for gifting has reduced,” stated R. Manmohan Ram, managing companion of Sundari Silks.
Once the lockdown was partially lifted in Tamil Nadu, many retailers selected the on-line mode and embraced social media to promote their merchandise. Retailers now say this has not helped them a lot, because it contributed simply 1%-2% of complete sales. Ramesh Pothy, managing director of Pothys, stated individuals had been shopping for on-line, however the enterprise there was minuscule and would take time to develop.
“In Tamil Nadu, the younger generation go the e-commerce way, but those aged above 40 want to visit shops and handpick clothes for festivals and special occasions,” stated a retailer who experimented with on-line sales however didn’t discover many takers.
Retailers are hoping that sales will enhance by 7%-10% in the subsequent week as bonuses could be offered to the working class.
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