As this rather pedestrian monsoon goes through the motions, people’s thoughts are now shifting towards the forthcoming tourist season and the festival season. For the dealers of white goods in the state, the season is very important. More than fifty percent of the business for dealers in the state is generated around the time surrounding Diwali.
Sanjay Shetye, manager at Shetye Sales Syndicate, Panjim, felt that business in the festival season would be good. His optimism was based on the fact that there was a change in market sentiment over the last two months. Sales over the festival season he said would be good. Last year he said the sales was not as much as predicted. During the financial year 2012-13 the store generated sales to the tune of Rs 45 lakh. The importance of the festival season can be gauged by the numbers generated in 2014. During the year, the shop generated around Rs 1.15 crore worth of business of which Rs 75 lakh worth of business was transacted during Diwali alone. According to Sanjay a shop in Panjim did over Rs 1 crore worth of business during Diwali in 2014
White goods dealers are looking at straws in the wind for positive signals. Shetye’s outlet for instance generated Rs 22 lakh worth of business in June 2014. That went up to Rs 30 lakh in June 2015.
His confidence is based on the fact that people are now coming out to buy white goods despite the depressed state of the economy. According to Sanjay Shetye all the white goods manufacturers were focussed on Diwali which was the most important festival for them since it always guaranteed good sales.
Shetye said the Japanese electronics giant Sony, does not provide hefty discounts anymore because they are assured of business from the high end consumer who they target now. To make matter worse, he said Samsung and LG have discontinued the practise of providing large discounts after the good showing during the 2014 festival season. Their argument, Sanjay said was that they were now established in the market and had carved out a niche as well as brand loyalty. They felt the consumers would come for the price and the quality on offer and they did not have to give discounts anymore to draw them in.
Providing more details of the Goa market Shetye said the sale of air conditioners picked in the months leading up to the summer. The festival season he said was all about the sale of television sets and with technologically advanced models coming into the market they could be the driver for growth this time.
Another dealer in Panjim, Felipe Alvarez of Prime Electronics, believes that the festival season in 2015 would be good because of the slow but consistent growth in the sale of white goods this year. Mr. Alvarez said “I cracked the one crore mark during the festival season in 2014 in a very depressed market. I believe the sentiment in the market is changing and sales will be good this season”.
People, Mr. Alvarez said were constantly upgrading their television sets and with android based television sets new in the market, it would drive his sales this festival season. Alvarez said people usually spent during the festival season probably under pressure from their children or in the belief that tough times usually don’t last very long.
Joseph Fernandes of Jolveldo Shoppe in Bardez is looking forward to the festival season with much anticipation. He said “this is our first season and we hope to do decent business. This year will give us an idea as to what one can expect from the market.” As a new outlet he hopes to generate sales to the tune of Rs 20 lakh over the course of the season.
Another big player in the white goods retail space in Goa, CMM, has carved its niche in the market. Hari a manager at the outlet said the market had been very good so far. Diwali he said was a very important period as far as sales was concerned and he believed there could be an increase to the tune of 15% to 20% this year in sales during the festival season. LED television sets he said had proved popular in the past during Diwali and mixers and grinders were popular during Ganesh.
A sales executive at a white goods dealer who did not want to be named said the average Goan consumer was always conscious of the price while buying though he or she would not compromise on quality. To stay competitive in the market manufacturers had to give discounts and match those given by other manufacturers. Another factor, he said which had to be considered was the size of the market. The market was not as big as they companies claimed and growth was usually in single digits. The resultant pressure, on company executives could only be imagined with people moving out of the market continuously.
Perhaps once the last fire cracker has been burst and the peda consumed the accountants can sit down and calculate the earnings from sales this season. One can only hope the figures look attractive.
