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Diwali Glitter in Mumbai Despite Inflation!
Monday, 24 October 2011, 19:38 IST
Mumbai: In the run-up to Diwali, the shopping mood in India's financial capital is upbeat despite the spiralling cost of living. Garments, furnishings and high value consumer electronics are flying off the shelves, but gold, silver and dry fruits are getting a cold shoulder thanks to a jump in their prices this year.
Contrary to popular perceptions, people are out shopping in droves at malls, shopping plazas, shopping centres and wayside stalls for clothes, gifts and sweetmeats, and hunting for bargains.
People are apparently buying certain categories of gifts and durables wholeheartedly in the true spirit of the festival season, said several shopkeepers and managers.
For instance, Bhavnagri Farsan & Sweets, a five-decade-old popular retailer in Mumbai's Borivali suburb, is overwhelmed by bulk orders from call centres, both for their staff and for people connected to the BPO business, said its owner Rakesh Shah.
"We have been working 24X7 since the first week of this month to fulfil the orders, besides catering to the hordes of retail buyers who queue up 9 a.m.-10 p.m. daily," Shah told IANS.
The most popular items on demand include sweets or snacks with a long shelf life, he said.
Garments and furnishings retailer Ajay Vora said people's response this year "is unusual".
"Diwali is the biggest shopping opportunity of the year, but in the past inflation made people cut down drastically on their shopping budgets. Not so this year. Maybe 2011 is lucky," Vora said.
However, precious metals like gold and silver are not being picked up as well as other items, probably due to their high prices.
With gold prices hovering around 
26,000 per 10 gm, people appear reluctant to invest in this age-old precious and auspicious commodity, said retail jeweller V. Shrikrishna.
"Besides, many banks are also offering gold investment and buying options. The country's first gold, silver and jewellery ATM was opened by a leading retailer Saturday. This enables people to make discreet, auspicious purchases," said Shrikrishna who runs a Pramila Jewellers showroom in north Mumbai.
However, a traditional gifting item, dry fruits, is not so popular on the shopping agendas of the people, according to an official of American Dry Fruits at Churchgate in south Mumbai.
"The response to retail buyers for dry fruits has been even less than last year, mainly due to spiralling prices. Most popular dry fruits are in the range of 1,000-2,000 a kg and some are even higher, discouraging the buyers," rued counter manager Pravin Shah.
While the overall response to the consumer electronics sector is down by 25 percent compared to last year, customers are surprisingly opting for high-value goods.
"These include 3D and LED technology televisions with LG, Sony, Haier, Samsung and Hitachi leading the popularity charts. Customers are also opting for huge, expensive refrigerators and eco-friendly air-conditioners," said Rajiv Vaghani, partner-director of the leading retailer JP Electronics of north-west Mumbai and Thane.
However, this has come after taking up massive efforts to woo the elusive customers, both by the retailers and by the manufacturers over the past two months.
"We have sent out over a million SMSs, distributed more than 100,000 leaflets, newspaper insertions, mascots, special promotions, discounts, add-ons, etc, which have increased the response by as much as 20-25 percent," Vaghani said.
This has paid rich dividends by attracting high-end customers who willingly shell out 50,000-plus for 3D-LED televisions, or refrigerators in the one lakh rupees-plus range, and latest fully automatic washing machines and eco-friendly air-conditioners, he added.
A sharp fall has been witnessed in the sale of crackers, both the silent and the noisy varieties, attributed mainly to the exorbitant prices and the growing campaign for a pollution-free environment, industry players said.
Prospective buyers practically stare at the high prices of fireworks -- up from 100-150 percent over last year.
While an ordinary rocket starts at 75 a piece, up from 35 last year, a box of simple crackers is available from 30 onwards, up from 12 last year, with similar massive hikes in other popular varieties like fountains, multi-coloured rockets, hi-fi rockets, etc, said Vijay Patel, a manager at a seasonal fireworks outlet in suburban Vile Parle.
However, people like Patel and Shrikrishna are hopeful that the next few days will increase the flow of customers and make it a truly Happy Diwali.
Source: IANS
26,000 per 10 gm, people appear reluctant to invest in this age-old precious and auspicious commodity, said retail jeweller V. Shrikrishna.
"Besides, many banks are also offering gold investment and buying options. The country's first gold, silver and jewellery ATM was opened by a leading retailer Saturday. This enables people to make discreet, auspicious purchases," said Shrikrishna who runs a Pramila Jewellers showroom in north Mumbai.
However, a traditional gifting item, dry fruits, is not so popular on the shopping agendas of the people, according to an official of American Dry Fruits at Churchgate in south Mumbai.
"The response to retail buyers for dry fruits has been even less than last year, mainly due to spiralling prices. Most popular dry fruits are in the range of 1,000-2,000 a kg and some are even higher, discouraging the buyers," rued counter manager Pravin Shah.
While the overall response to the consumer electronics sector is down by 25 percent compared to last year, customers are surprisingly opting for high-value goods.
"These include 3D and LED technology televisions with LG, Sony, Haier, Samsung and Hitachi leading the popularity charts. Customers are also opting for huge, expensive refrigerators and eco-friendly air-conditioners," said Rajiv Vaghani, partner-director of the leading retailer JP Electronics of north-west Mumbai and Thane.
However, this has come after taking up massive efforts to woo the elusive customers, both by the retailers and by the manufacturers over the past two months.
"We have sent out over a million SMSs, distributed more than 100,000 leaflets, newspaper insertions, mascots, special promotions, discounts, add-ons, etc, which have increased the response by as much as 20-25 percent," Vaghani said.
This has paid rich dividends by attracting high-end customers who willingly shell out 50,000-plus for 3D-LED televisions, or refrigerators in the one lakh rupees-plus range, and latest fully automatic washing machines and eco-friendly air-conditioners, he added.
A sharp fall has been witnessed in the sale of crackers, both the silent and the noisy varieties, attributed mainly to the exorbitant prices and the growing campaign for a pollution-free environment, industry players said.
Prospective buyers practically stare at the high prices of fireworks -- up from 100-150 percent over last year.
While an ordinary rocket starts at 75 a piece, up from 35 last year, a box of simple crackers is available from 30 onwards, up from 12 last year, with similar massive hikes in other popular varieties like fountains, multi-coloured rockets, hi-fi rockets, etc, said Vijay Patel, a manager at a seasonal fireworks outlet in suburban Vile Parle.
However, people like Patel and Shrikrishna are hopeful that the next few days will increase the flow of customers and make it a truly Happy Diwali.
Source: IANS