Team Herald
PANJIM: After the deadly silence during festive season, courtesy the second wave of COVID, people seems to have gathered all courage to have a glittering Christmas, this year. Customers are thronging in the market to for Christmas shopping, however, dealers and shopkeepers spell a mixed response to the market sentiments.
Director in Delfinos, Anil Pereira, said, “There has been a substantial price rise across all sectors but that has not dampen the shopping spree at Delfinos. I like to mention in particular that there has been a sharp price rise in price of imported items as the freight rates have skyrocketed.”
He further added that, “We at Delfinos have been doing a very steady sale. One of the reasons being that we absorb some of the price rise component by working on a minuscule margin particularly in our fresh line section, we always believe that when chips are down it is required for us to step in and make things lighter for our customers. For us, it has been a good show in all segments. It has been a gradual rise which only goes to prove our product mix is right.”
Proprietor of 99 Shop in Panjim Market, Ramdas Radkar, said unlike almost no sale last year, this year it have been good. “The sales are up by 20 per cent. People who have double vaccinated themselves are more confident to come out and shop. In our shop decorative items are the most picked items. As far as ride in price is concerned, we are not affected as we are selling all single items at Rs 99 anyways.”
Chiraag Tripathi, partner at Tintos supermarket, Carenzalem, believes that the overall business has picked up over last year by about 20 per cent. “While last year the customer-spend was skewed towards staples, and food items, this year non-food is finding robust growth in the customer basket. The prices have remained stable across categories. The price increase is mainly seen increase in food category especially edible oils by about 10 to 12 per cent. Home delivery costs have increased due to hike in petroleum prices. However, we are currently absorbing the same as much as possible,” said Tripathi.
Nihaal Borkar, Partner in Borkar’s supermarket at Margao feels that overall the market is extremely sluggish. “Honestly we have not seen such a depressed market ever. We are de-growing year on year. Essential commodity prices have seen a price rise of a minimum 10 per cent which has led to an average reduction of about 5 per cent in footfalls in several stores,” said Borkar.
Director at Solar Enterprise, Rohit Mehta, who deals in white goods at Carenzalem, is of the view that pricing depends on product to product. “Some product prices have become better with Male in India and some have increased due to raw material price going up. Stock availability and inventory is a problem due to demand and slow flow of imports. However, the make in India products are available. Sales are improving as COVID cases have come down and people vaccinated are more confident in moving out and trying to continue with regular lifestyle,” said Mehta.