sarwesh

NEW DELHI: Like the monsoon this year, the end-of-season sale has begun a month in advance. Weak consumer sentiment has prompted retailers to declare ‘early sale’. Makers of branded clothes, shoes, kidswear, electronics, leather goods and toys are going on a sale frenzy, offering discounts ranging from 10-70% on their products. The forecast is, there will be more of the same in the coming days.

With inflation at 11.63%, companies have to come up with ways to bring customers back to stores and in the apparel industry, this means an early end-of-season sale.

The need to stretch the rupee to fit the budget is what companies seem to be catering to with a scheme for everyone; buy two and get one free, flat-discount rates, gift vouchers, scratch-and-win offers and even innovative ones such as: the gentleman buys while the lady shops the equivalent value, for free. “Consumers have started feeling the pinch. They have now become bargain hunters,” said sales analyst Chandradeep Mitra.

Consumer spending is low due to many reasons. Food and fuel prices have gone up significantly. Add to this, there is the monthly burden of paying home and car loans. Since the average middle-class consumer cannot cut down on fuel costs during the week — he has to commute to work everyday — he tries to save on fuel during weekends by not trying out new shopping destinations.



This has brought down impulse purchases drastically. “Consumers are anticipating tougher times in the next few months. So, they are resisting shopping to save the extra cash,” said an industry observer.

Since marketers are aware how an average customer behaves during a slowdown, they are trying to make them enter their stores through high-decibel ads and promos. “We are nearing the days of flat 70% sale,” said an apparel manufacturer. However, it’s only the mid- to premium brands that suffer during a slowdown. The super-premium and luxury brands are not impacted much as their target customers are not supposed to be affected by inflation.