Shop till you drop: Inflation sparks sale season

RETAIL THERAPY: Retailers are doing their best to bring people back to their splurging ways.

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New Delhi: Ankita Ohri is back to her favourite store to indulge in some shopping. High inflation had kept her away from shopping but the lucrative offers from the store has attracted her back.

"Everything has become so expensive and I had been keeping myself away from shopping because of high inflation. But as soon as I got to know about this huge sale - that too much earlier than the normal sale period - I'm back to shopping," says she.

Like the monsoon this year, the end-of-season sale has also begun much in advance and from apparel to footwear, almost everything seems to be on discount.

And what made the retailers pre-pone the discounts the weak consumer sentiment becuse of high inflation.

Almost all the sectors of retail industry have seen a clear slowdown in the past few weeks. June has seen a dip of 15-20 per cent in terms of sales in the shoe industry. Jewellery segment has dipped 60-70 per cent. Electronics' segment fell by 7 per cent and the apparel industry fell by 10 per cent this season. This has created a win-win situation for the customer.

MD Technopak Harminder Sahni says, "All the companies have lot of summer stock piled up. May and June were the peak period, but sales were low. So instead of going to sales in the August period, companies held them earlier. Basically, they are trying to attract the reluctant consumer back."

Companies are going sale frenzy and are offering discounts ranging from 10-70 per cent on their products. The need to stretch the rupee to fit the budget is what companies are trying to cater to and in doing so, are offering great schemes for everyone from kids to mom and dads.

MD Benetton India Sanjeev Mohanty says, "There is a change in sentiment in terms of buying. People are definitely seeking more value during the inflationary period. We are catering to this. We have a new scheme of happier hours which are two hours in the morning and two hours at night. So, our experience is that the consumer gets into a frenzy because of this, and we have experienced larger sales volumes because of such schemes."

And the forecast is, there will be more of the same in the coming days.

CEO W Vijay Mishra says, "Even in August and September, we will face a litmus test. We will see if there is change in consumers' impulse buying habit. We may have to look for some changes and look into more offers to attract them."

So retailers are trying their level best to bring people back to their splurging ways by offering you a discounted retail therapy to ease the worries of high inflation. After all, the customer is the king.