Consumer durable retailers and companies remain cautiously optimistic about the remainder of the ongoing festival season.

Uptick in demand

Going by initial trends — during Navratras and Dussehra — they said there has been an uptick in demand, and expect it to continue in the upcoming days in the run-up to Diwali.

Nilesh Gupta, Managing Director, Vijay Sales, said: “We have seen sales growth of 7-8 per cent in the Navratra period in terms of value compared to the same period last year, which is reasonably good, given the current macro-economic conditions. So, we believe this positive momentum will continue in the coming days in the run-up to Diwali and may even strengthen further.”

He added: “At a time when consumers may be keeping away from spending on cars or homes, they are more comfortable spending on consumer appliance products.”

Ritesh Ghosal, CMO, Croma Infiniti Retail Ltd, added that shopper sentiments have been extremely positive since the start of the festival season. “We expect the momentum to continue for the whole month and peak during the big Diwali days,” he added. Despite the ongoing consumption slowdown, players believe that overall, the consumer durable industry is expected to see sales growth in mid-to-high single digits in the festival season period unlike the decline in the growth trajectory being witnessed by other sectors such as automobiles. All major durables companies are targeting strong double-digit sales growth.

Sunil D’Souza, Managing Director, Whirlpool India, said the company is confident about clocking double-digit growth ahead of the industry growth rate during the festival season.

“Since the beginning of October, the industry has begun witnessing an uptick in demand. Recent steps by the government, including the move to hike DA for Central government employees, augur well for the consumer durables industry,” he said.

Discretionary spending

He added that factors such as electrification across the country and lower ticket size of discretionary spends required to buy consumer appliances is expected to drive growth, especially in the Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets.

“Due to the government’s push for electrification, consumers are for the first time looking to own a consumer appliance in these markets,” he added.

Consumer durables players have launched new product ranges with cash-backs, easy financing schemes, and longer duration warranties, besides other aggressive promotional offers to drum up sales during the festival seson.

Vijay Babu, Vice President — Home Appliances, LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd, said that the company witnessed double-digit growth during the Navratras period till Dussehra.

“Since the first day of Navratras, the demand for consumer appliances has been shaping well. We made preparations well in advance for the festival season and that is helping us see strong growth momentum,” he added.