The good sales momentum in the consumer durable and electronics segment during the Independence Day week has triggered hopes of a buoyant festive season. Leading retailers and consumer durable manufacturers witnessed growth in excess of 50% in sales volumes around the August 15 over the same period last year.

Consumer durable and consumer electronics brands are expecting sales to increase by 30-40% during the festive season, starting this month in the run up to Diwali, mostly from premium and smart products. This is the first festive season after two years when restrictions on movement have been lifted, and consumer sentiment is high. Concerns around inflation also seem to have been set aside by the customers, officials from companies said.

BSH Home Appliances which has premium brands such as Bosch, Siemens and Gaggenau witnessed above 50% growth in sales around August 15 through its organised retail, large and branded stores in India. Neeraj Bahl, MD & CEO, India and SAARC, BSH Home Appliances, told FE the growth has come despite the above-20% hike in prices since January. “We are optimistic of a good festive season this year and the momentum seen earlier this month gives us confidence that we can have 40-45% growth in sales over last year,” he said.

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For Godrej Appliances, 28-30% of the annual sales come from the festive season.

“This year, in Q2 FY22-23 during Onam festivities we are targeting more than 30% growth over last year as well as pre-pandemic…,” said Kamal Nandi, business head and executive vice president at Godrej Appliances. “We are cautiously optimistic as far as the mass segment is concerned but the premium segment is expected to continue doing very well in festive season,” he said.

Tata Group’s electronics retail chain Croma witnessed a 70% increase in sales on its online platform during its Independence Day sale, which had offers on smart TVs, washing machines, laptops, and several other electronics. The retailer said consumers also made a beeline at its offline retail stores, where sales volumes were up 50%.

Ravindra Singh Negi, chief operating officer – Consumer Products, Bajaj Electricals, also sounded an optimistic note about the festive season. “But a lot depends on the overall macroeconomic factors … With the government taking necessary steps to control inflation and revive the economy, we believe this festive season will see good demand for consumer electronics across all the categories.”

Vijay Sales saw a 10% growth in the Independence Day week over the same period in 2019, with digital watches, mobile phones and televisions leading the pack. Director Nilesh Gupta anticipates that Diwali will see even better sales volumes, and will surpass last year’s numbers, which itself were 20-25% better compared to the pre-pandemic 2019.

“Growth in premium products is outpacing entry level demand,” he said. He attributed the growth to a change in mindset where consumers are now looking for the best in the market and do not treat these as luxuries but essentials, and also do not mind paying a premium.

Deepak Bansal, vice president (home appliances and air conditioners), LG India, also said that despite inflationary pressures consumer demand has been good especially for bigger capacity appliances like refrigerators above 300 litres, front loading washing machines and microwave of above 32 litres capacity. “We also crossed 1 million dual inverter AC sales in H1 which is a milestone,” he said.

Atul Jain, executive vice president, Orient Electric said the company is well-stocked and is geared to meet a surge in demand, which he expects to be healthy compared to the last two years. “The higher spending capability of the millennials and their penchant for comfort and convenience have led to a rise in the premiumisation trend and we see premium end of products to continue to do well for us,” he said.

Upbeat consumer sentiment is also showing up in the rise in retail loans and financing being opted to purchase appliances. Lentra, a consumer lending cloud platform, witnessed an 84% surge in retail loans, bulk of which was from in-store shopping. It processed more than 1.2 lakh applications on August 15 alone, up from 65,000 on the same day in 2021.The average ticket size of consumer loans also increased from Rs 13,500 in 2021 to Rs 15,500 in 2022.

Sandeep Mathur, chief revenue officer, Lentra, said given the current demand momentum he expects 3x growth in consumer loans with average applications processing time hitting nearly 15 applications per second this Dhanteras.