The first phase accounts for 40-50% of total festive sales. The second phase begins a week before Diwali, which is on November 12 this year. This surge reflects a revival in consumer sentiment, which has been subdued for over a year.
While ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart and JioMart started their festive sales earlier than usual, during the shraadh period, sales were not impacted at offline stores. They in fact picked up in the Navratri-Dussehra period.
Also, adequate supplies of cars – which had impacted business in the last two years – helped the industry notch record sales.
Mobile phone market tracker Counterpoint Research estimates smartphone sales volumes have already grown 4-5% this month from the year earlier. The market has expanded by over 20% in value, said research director Tarun Pathak. Last year, Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali were celebrated in October.
“The recovery in sales is driven by models priced Rs 15,000 and above with a very strong trend in premiumisation,” said Pathak. Television makers said there is already a shortage of large-screen models of 65 inches and above.LG India had expected growth at two-three times last year’s levels, said Gireesan Gopi, business head, home entertainment.
“But the combination of festive season and cricket world cup boosted sales beyond expectations,” he said. “We are arranging for fresh stock of large-screen televisions on a war footing.”
Car sales
Car sales have grown nearly 16% thus far this month from October last year, while that of two-wheelers is up 20%, indicating a recovery in demand, auto industry executives said.
Better stock levels at dealerships and healthy demand are spurring vehicle sales on an already high base, said industry insiders. As many as 1.57 million two-wheelers and 328,000 passenger vehicles were sold in October 2022.
Car market leader Maruti Suzuki India’s dealers delivered over 100,000 cars in the nine-day Navratri period while the industry is estimated to have delivered 220,000 units in the same period, said Shashank Srivastava, senior executive officer, Maruti.
Hyundai Motor India, the second-largest carmaker by sales volume, saw dealerships deliver 30,000 cars during the Navratri-Dussehra period, said Tarun Garg, chief operating officer.
“This is consistent with year-to-date growth so far,” he said. “Exter, Venue and Creta continue to receive overwhelming customer response.”
The inventory level at Hyundai dealers is at 20-25 days, which is optimal, keeping in view the upcoming Dhanteras and Diwali festivals, he said.
The industry expects the momentum to continue in the second leg of the festive season.
However, the stress on the entry level of the car market was pronounced, with steep discounts and attractive offers.
Manish Raj Singhania, president, Federation of Automobile Dealers Association, said two-wheelers are doing particularly well, albeit on a lower base when compared with passenger cars.
Dussehra is the second-largest sales period for high-ticket items after Dhanteras.
The industry expects rural demand for discretionary products – which has been muted – to pick up from next month.
“Agricultural money should reach farmers by then and marriage season will also boost demand next month,” said Satish NS, president at Haier India. He said the company has already surpassed last year’s entire festive season business by 20% this month.