Boom time is Back

After three years, the market celebrates this festive season with bigger sales

There is a lot of euphoria at the New Delhi headquarters of consumer electronics giant LG. Over the last few months, the company has been preparing to ramp up its product line inventory to be offered in the current festive season. This year, there is considerable expectation that after a long hiatus of three years, Indian consumers will open their purse strings to shop generously during festivals.

LG’s optimism stems from a rather robust double­digit sales growth in the first half of the year, which was followed by a good showing at the outset of the festive season beginning September. During the 10­day Onam celebrations last month in Kerala, the company witnessed a sales growth of 35­40 per cent, reflected in a business of Rs 1,000­1,200 crore. “There is a strong positive sentiment in the market,” says Niladri Dutta, chief marketing officer, LG India. “We expect to clock at least 30 per cent growth in the Navaratri­Diwali season. In fact, we hope strong growth will continue till November. We are looking at business worth anything around Rs 5,000 crore this season.”

This optimism is palpable pretty much across the corporate spectrum, with almost all consumer durable companies readying their arsenal to meet the festive season demand, which is expected to be bigger than in the last two years in terms of sales. According to rough estimates, sales worth Rs 20,000­25,000 crore is expected to happen through online shopping alone in the current festive season, while physical retail is expected to account for another Rs 10,000­15,000 crore in the same period.