Over 3 million nuptials to bring joy to wedding market

Demand for consumer electronics, apparel, essential commodities and gold surged amid an upcoming wedding season - about 3.2 million weddings have been lined up beginning November 15 through till the end of February next year. This is the first full-fledged wedding season after a gap of two years of Covid restrictions.

Apparel and consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers expect sales in December and the January-March quarter to be driven significantly by the wedding season with people spending higher than pre-Covid period.

Shoppers Stop managing director Venu Nair told analysts recently that after wardrobe and office reboot, demand, going forward, including premiumisation, will be driven by postponed weddings and occasions.


Dealers and distributors of cooking oils, pulses, rice, sugar are restocking heavily for the wedding season. "Demand is very strong across the country for cooking oils. Hotels are buying good quantities of cooking oils as marriages are being planned at their places. With Covid restrictions gone, people are celebrating marriages in a big way," said Pradeep Chowdhry, managing director, Gemini Edibles & Fats India.

Godrej Appliances business head Kamal Nandi said the industry expects the wedding season, which will also coincide with the harvest time, will push demand for mass segments affected by multiple factors since the onset of the pandemic. "The wedding season should help to clear out inventory piled up with trade," he said.

Sectors like apparel and retail posted the highest ever sales last quarter and during Diwali due to pent-up demand, while demand for electronics and daily essentials took a hit with rural markets and first-time buyers shying away due to high inflation. Volume sales or number of units sold for both electronics and daily essentials are yet to recover and grow.

Companies are going to push investment into the wedding season as it kicks off from December and continues till February. This includes investment into advertising campaigns, continuing festive season finance schemes and on-ground marketing activities, apart from new line of products.

Titan CEO for jewellery business Ajoy Chawla said the company was optimistic of a very strong second half for weddings and is preparing accordingly. The company has got "enough collections and campaigns and on-ground events that we are continuing to do, because we see a very good potential for this," he told analysts.

Suvankar Sen, MD of Senco Gold & Diamonds, said: "Rather than buying heavy pieces of jewellery, people are buying multiple pieces of jewellery for their wedding this year. Wedding sales are expected to be 10-12% higher than pre-Covid time."

"Nearly 15%-20% of the wedding budget of the over 3 million weddings that are planned will be spent on gold and diamond jewellery. Softer price of gold is also driving demand," said Saiyam Mehra, VC, All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council. Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail MD Ashish Dikshit said the company will focus on premium and designer ethnic wear business.