In this great landmass otherwise known as India, there is much diversity. Customs and traditions and dialects differ dramatically every few kilometers. However cricket, Bollywood and one might add festivals brings the country together. The numbers generated are astronomical, but then what about festivals celebrated in Goa. Does it excite retailers or is it just another quarter in the year.
According to studies conducted by retail experts the combined gross merchandise value, a proxy for gross sales for Flipkart and Amazon India from their festive sales increased to $900 million in 2016 and is expected to grow to $1.5 billion this season.
As a marketing maven who preferred to be off record said, “The festival season is very important in a trade cycle that was buffeted by demonetisation and the commencement of the GST regime. It has been a rather indifferent year business wise and during the festival season, people leave their fears behind and spend. It will make my bottom lines look healthy and help me in the long run.”
For various sectors in the State, the festival season is an important time in the year when on average 20% of the yearly sales are generated.
Farid Veljee of Veljee Motors said the festival season was very important time of the year for them. Farid said “40% of our sale in the year happens during the festive season of which 25% comes from the sale of two wheelers Vespa and Suzuki. The past four years have been good for us especially during the festive season which witnessed a jump of 20%-25% increase during the month.”
This year he expected a slight drop in sales by perhaps 5% due to demonetisation and the implementation of GST. The increase in the price of vehicles being nominal at around Rs 300-400 would, he said, not affect sales. The dealership sold around 800-1000 per dealership of the two brands they represented.
Gaurish Sakhardande, GM, sales, Priority Autoventures that represents Renault and Skoda said he expected more sales from Skoda due to the launch of the new Octavia Dustercvt automatic. Last year during the festive season they sold 28 cars and he expected something similar this year too. As far as Renault was concerned they sold 160 vehicles in one month last year.
Despite clocking record domestic sales of 3 million units (at 9.23% growth) in the PV segment during FY 2016-17, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) is anticipating a modest sales growth of 7-9 per cent in FY 2017-18.
However as one sales executive in a dealership in Verna said “If people have the need, they will buy, outside factors be damned. There will be an increase in sales but the percentage increase will be difficult to guess.”
Felipe Alvarez of Prime Electronics said Dussehra and Diwali were very important with around 30% of yearly sales taking in this time space. Mr Alvarez said “We experience an increase of over 30 to 40% over regular sales in this month. The sales are usually led by LED, fridges and mobiles. I expect business to be good this festive season. Post GST it has been good, last month was good and I expect the same this year too.”
Asked about last year, he said Chaturthi was okay and Panjim at the most grew by 5%. Diwali sales were increasing every year over the past 5 years by 15%-20% and this was being driven by the sale of mobiles. This year he said he had a target to sell 200 panels as against 140 odd last year during Diwali.
Sudhir Sathardekar, Store Manager, Shetye Sales Syndicate said in markets like Mapusa, Bicholim, Savaedhem, Ponda, the festival season was very important in terms of sales. He said “This time Ganesh falls before the month end and perhaps companies will release salaries early. We expect an increase of around 30% to 50% in sales. This year you have to remember, people have not purchased for two months. GST had an effect and so did demonetisation before that. Every year there has been an increase of 10% every festive season and the popular items are LED, sound systems and refrigerators.”
Any festival is incomplete without jewelry. For Yogesh Bhide of PN Gadgil Jewelers the festive season over the years has witnessed an increase in sale every year by 20%-25%. Ganesh and Dussehra was important with Diwali and Dhanteras usually witnessing an increase in sale by almost 50% to 80%. He said “It’s a good time and it is diamonds which are now pushing our sales. Sales are around Rs 5 crore which is around 30% to 40% of yearly sales.”
For Vikram Verlekar of Ulhas Jewelers who is located in the south, Christmas is very important with NRI’s returning from the gulf or Goans visiting from Swindon. Akshaytritya was now gaining in importance and while gold remained a favorite, diamonds were gaining in popularity.
Perhaps the only industry that does not witness any action is the reality business. Denzil Xavier, Founder President, Goa Association of Realtors said “People usually bless their house or take possession but buying a house is a serious and expensive proposition. Festivals do not sway the sentiments when it comes to buying a house”.
There has been not much to cheer about the local economy. Perhaps Ganesh Chaturthi could be the start of good times.
