With the festival season kickstarting with Navratri and Dasara, consumer durables firms said they witnessed better-than-expected demand trends backed by positive customer sentiment and added that they expect this momentum to continue over the next two weeks, leading up to Diwali.

Kamal Nandi, Business Head and Executive Vice-President, Godrej Appliances, said, “There has been a spike in sales since the first day of Navratri and it is better than the demand trends that were seen last year. On an average, in the first 15 days of the month, the industry clocked a growth of 12-15 per cent compared to last year. This industry growth will be higher than 15 per cent, if one looks at just the last 10-11 days period with the start of Navratri.”

Companies said that footfalls saw a resurgence at stores and premium product categories witnessed stronger demand in line with the post-pandemic trends. “The sell-out has been pretty good during this period. Rural demand has also picked up in the last few days. Mid-range and premium range products are witnessing higher demand. We expect this sales momentum to continue leading up to Diwali,” said Eric Braganza, President, Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association.

Leading brands such as LG and Panasonic said they have clocked double-digit growth during the period. Deepak Bansal, Vice-President-Corporate Planning, LG India, said the company has witnessed almost double-digit growth.

Manish Sharma, Chairman and CEO, Panasonic India & SA, added that the company has seen 20 per cent growth during the festive season, and is hoping for increased momentum closer to Diwali.

Global challenges

The festival season has come amidst global challenges, including semiconductor shortages, surge in freight costs, higher lead time for getting supplies and China’s power crisis impacting component production.

Nilesh Gupta, Director, Vijay Sales, said, “So far product shortages have not been a big concern as retailers have been stocking up for the past one-and-a-half months in the run-up to October. In terms of value, we saw a growth of 25-30 per cent during Navratri, which was better than expected. In the coming days, there could be some shortages of select products or models, depending on the brands, if these issues continue.”

comment COMMENT NOW