Strong Durga puja sales indicate trends

03 October 2022, Mumbai:

There were strong festive sales in eastern India during Durgapuja.

Complete easing of Covid curbs after a gap of two years helped lift sales. Diwali sales are expected to top 2019 levels. Sales grew 19 per cent from April 2022 to August 2022 compared to pre-pandemic or 2019 levels.

The early trends indicative of the festive season have been encouraging for retailers and brands. The industry is expecting this season, which is without any Covid restriction after two years, to perform better than the festive season in 2019. The eastern and northern markets have performed better with sales growth at 22 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

Consumer sentiment is buoyant. Consumers are not only shopping for themselves but also inquiring about gifting as socializing picks up. Retailers are betting on a strong festive season to help lift demand; this is especially true for categories such as apparel and premium electronics. While categories such as Quick Service Restaurants, electronic goods, and sports goods continue to show steady growth, categories like garments, beauty and wellness, footwear and jewelry that were otherwise indicating a very-near-the-pandemic level of growth in the past four months have started showing decent growth.

Earlier in 2022, buying behaviour during occasions, especially the wedding season, were showing an upward trend across income groups.

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