Companies offering 'buy two, get three free' schemes

NEW DELHI: Call it Roti, Kapada aur Makaan Part II. The branded basics of everyday existence are up for grabs, and this time round, the discount season has started early, and the offers are a tad more lucrative than yesteryears. The mantra is ���buy two, get three free��� or even ���buy a big house, get a smaller one free���!

Sample this: British high street fashion brand FCUK and designer denim brand CK are offering flat 50% off, Pizza Hut selling a meal for merely Rs 99, hypermarkets offering economical package deals on food items, and getting a luxury car free with a villa may sound too good to be true. But it is happening for real. Companies are using these attractive strategies to lure customers and drive sales during the lean times.

Luxury brands such as Zegna, Salvatore Ferragamo, Ermenegildo Zegna, Dunhill or Paul Smith are all offering discounts in the range of 25% to 50%. The end-of-season discounts, as these sales are generally called, start in February, but this year they have been pushed ahead of schedule to boost sales.

���We are offering 10% more discount as compared to last year. The offers that generally start around February have already started hitting the markets. In fact, a customer can save up to 50% on the apparel and food budget now,��� says Jay Gupta, MD of The Loot, a multi-brand apparel outlet.

Other retailers are also echoing similar sentiments. Future Group���s ongoing ���The Great India Shopping Festival,��� has been a huge success. The rationale is quite simple. ���We believe in creating demand and discount strategy is an excellent way of pushing demand. This year we have put in more efforts for driving sales,��� says Rajan Malhotra, CEO of Big Bazaar, the hypermarket chain of Future Group.

The companies plan at least two seasons in advance. With the slowdown hitting, the expansion plans have been deferred leaving companies with more than was needed. With these sales, companies are trying to clear the surplus stock.

Ambeek Khemka, group president of Vishal Retail, feels discount figures on the windows of the stores are a way of enticing customers to enter the shop. ���With a discount of 25% on apparel, the sales go up by approximately 50%,��� he says.