Salesmen at the Kohinoor Electronics showroom in Dadar have no time to speak. Business is brisk, they say, ahead of the 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival, which will begin on September 19. It will conclude on September 28.
In the last one week, footfalls into the Dadar store of Kohinoor Electronics alone have jumped by about 25-30%, versus the previous weeks, and sales conversion are as high as 70-80%, as consumers pick up small kitchen appliances to large durable items such as television sets, refrigerators and washing machines, driven by consumer offers, schemes and discounts.
At neighbouring garment, flower and general merchandise stores across Dadar market in Central Mumbai, the crowds are simply thronging stores. Local shop owners say that business has boomed by at least 25-30% versus the previous weeks and they expect this number to grow to around 35-40% during the Ganpati festival.
“While the Ganpati festival is not big from a national lens, it does give a sense of the retail appetite at the local level in states such as Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka,” says Nilesh Gupta, director at Vijay Sales, a chain of electronics showrooms in the west and north of India.
Gupta’s Vijay Sales store at Prabhadevi, Dadar, is also milling with people. Executives say that the turnout has been good over the last two weekends, but they expect a bigger surge during the Dusshera-Diwali period, when it will be peak season for consumer durable retailers.
“At a broader level, the Dusshera-Diwali season is expected to be good this year and regional festivals such as Ganesh Chathurthi will feed into this overall festive demand,” Gupta says. “We are expecting at least a 15-20% year-on-year growth during the festive season this year as consumer sentiment improves,” he says.