NEW DELHI: The ongoing end of the summer season sales remain lacklustre this year even as most brands advanced their annual sales to prop up business amid subdued consumer sentiment in recent months.
“Consumers are not spending money,” said the chief executive of a global brand. “Sales are down by 15-20% compared to that of last year,” the person said on condition of anonymity. This, despite most brands advancing their end of season sales by up to two weeks. Many marketers blame the poor show on increasing frequency of sales events.
“The overall sales fervour has come down. Four-five years back the uptick used to be sharper,” said Vasanth Kumar, managing director at Lifestyle International that operates Lifestyle department stores chain. “In the last four years, amount of sales have increased, both by brick-and-mortar and online players who have round-the-year discounts. The urge to buy during sale has come down,” he said.
Over the weekend, Lifestyle department store was running offers such as buy one get one free, 5% cash back on purchases through some credit cards, and gift vouchers. Rival Central chain was offering 50% discount and another 50% in cash back.
Jack & Jones, Only and Vero Moda are giving 50% plus 20% discounts and 10% cash back on Axis Bank cards. US fashion brand Gap is texting consumers with offers of flat 50% discount plus 500 redeemable points on purchases above Rs 5,000, while its rival H&M is offering up to 70% discounts.
ADVERTISEMENT
Interestingly, top malls are brimming with visitors. Yet, high footfall has not necessarily translated into high sales for retailers. On weekends, it is hard to find space in the 950-seater food court in Mall of India in Noida, and the shopping centre pans to add 100-120 seats in the next one month or so.
Similar is the case in Infiniti Mall in Mumbai where the 1,000-seater food court is packed on weekends. “People don’t come just for the food court, they come even for shopping in a big way,” said Pushpa Bector, head of DLF Shopping Malls division. “I can tell you that at Mall of India and Promenade people come specifically to shop,” she said.
Some malls, like Ambience Mall in New Delhi, for example, are enticing shoppers with lucky draw offers to win a trip to Singapore or a smart television among others. At Oberoi Mall in Mumbai, revenue this sales season has been flat compared to last year. “We believe, predominantly, it could be because of the subdued sentiments,” said Anupam T, vice-president at Oberoi Mall, which has revenue-sharing agreements with brands.
A subdued flagship discount season is adding to the woes of retailers who have witnessed not-so-good business February onwards, barring May when sales picked up slightly due to mid-season sales.
