Even as e-commerce players claim to have sold products worth crores during their recently concluded sale period, the festive season is yet to bring cheer to their offline counterparts, who have been reeling from a consumption slowdown. Most offline retailers have reported a flat to low single-digit growth in the first half of the festive season, say experts, but they are optimistic about the second half as footfalls have started picking up.
“The first 15 sales days were good for us, but we could have seen better numbers,” says Sundeep Chugh, CEO and MD, Benetton India. “However, we were quite apprehensive given the situation three months back and considering that, we have fared well.” Value fashion retailer V-Bazaar, too, saw a drop in footfalls during Dussehra and Durga Puja. “While we haven’t seen a de-growth, there isn’t much of growth either,” admits Hemant Agarwal, chairman and managing director, V-Bazaar Retail.
As per Anurag Mathur, head, retail and partner, PwC India, product categories such as smartphones and consumer durables have been performing well, while apparel and FMCG have seen a low single-digit growth. Ethnic brands in the apparel segment, however, have seen better than expected business, with players such as Fabindia and BIBA reporting 10-13% growth in the first half of the festive season. Most malls, meanwhile, have seen a decline in footfalls during the first half of the season.