While big retailers and brands are seeing a 25%-30% dip in sales this Deepavali, smaller players say business is down 50%-60%.
A few retailers with State-wide presence noted that sales were down in the Chennai market, whereas branches in tier-2 and tier-3 towns were witnessing good business.
“Sales are down 25%, and though people are walking in, the regular Deepavali crowd is missing,” said P.A. Ravindran, general manager of Chennai Silks. He said retail businesses in Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruppur were faring well.
“The office-going crowd that left Chennai is yet to come back, and that’s one reason why sales are down in the city and going on well in the districts,” he added.
At Jeyachandran Textiles, sales are down by over 70%. “A majority of our customers are middle-class families who commute by suburban trains. With trains yet to resume operations, that crowd is staying away. Footfalls are good during the weekends, but on weekdays, most shops look deserted,” said Sundar J., managing director of Jeyachandran Textiles. Mr. Sundar also explained that elders (referring to senior family members/parents) were cutting down on their budgets and focusing on buying quality clothes for children.
Work-from-home attire
Retailers said women who usually buy expensive saris for Deepavali were now picking up those with a lower price tag. Work-from-home attire was the most sought-after by consumers. Demand had been good for casual garments. “With the markets opening up and people venturing out, some festive buying is definitely happening. We have seen a move towards quality, away from quantity, but there is certainly a need to shop and dress up for some festivities post-COVID, considering the impact the lockdown has had on people,” said Siddharth Bindra, managing director of BIBA.
“Chennai sales have not picked up, and a lot of our stores are in malls. We are noticing that footfalls at malls are still much lower than at high streets. Stores in the rest of Tamil Nadu are slowly recovering, and we are hopeful that in the next two weeks, we will see some traction,” he added.
“When it comes to personal purchases, there has not been much change in the purchasing budget. But purchase of saris for gifting has reduced,” said R. Manmohan Ram, managing partner of Sundari Silks.
Once the lockdown was partially lifted in Tamil Nadu, many retailers chose the online mode and embraced social media to sell their products. Retailers now say this has not helped them much, as it contributed just 1%-2% of total sales. Ramesh Pothy, managing director of Pothys, said people were buying online, but the business there was minuscule and would take time to grow.
“In Tamil Nadu, the younger generation go the e-commerce way, but those aged above 40 want to visit shops and handpick clothes for festivals and special occasions,” said a retailer who experimented with online sales but did not find many takers.
Retailers are hoping that sales will increase by 7%-10% in the next week as bonuses would be provided to the working class.
