 "ecommerce, online")
Republic Day weekend brings hope to retailers as they expect a pickup in sales after a lacklustre January.
Apparel retailers expect sales to scale to double-digit. E-commerce order volumes during this year’s Republic Day sale events increased 18.7 per cent compared to last year.
Electronics and consumer durables are also expected to witness a rise in sales and customers may pick up more mobile phones this long weekend.
Apparel and fashion retail chain and lifestyle, expect like-for-like (LFL) growth to increase in single digits during the weekend as the end-of-season sale, which started in December-end, will end on Sunday.
“The fashion industry is not out of the woods yet, but this weekend is looking better. There is a lot of stress in the market due to inflation and economic strain. The stress is felt across the board and not limited to any particular market,” Devarajan Iyer, chief executive officer (CEO) at Lifestyle, told Business Standard.
The mid and the mass price-point segments are severely impacted, but the bridge to luxury and luxury segments are performing well, Iyer said.
He added that after the temperatures dropped in northern and eastern parts of the country, sales are now marginally better.
The retailer has been running a 30-40 per cent discount on its merchandise.
Men’s wear brand, Celio, also expects sales to rise this weekend by 10-15 per cent LFL growth. It is offering an up to 50 per cent off over the next three days.
“Sales have been good post Diwali, but this month has seen flat sales. We expect sales to pick up this weekend,” Satyen Momaya, CEO at Celio India.
In December, the retailer saw LFL growth of 8-9 per cent.
V-Mart Retail, which has a major presence in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, expects flat sales compared to last year.
“We have inventory with us which we are clearing out. We have various offers, which include buy-one-get-one free and our discounts are up to 50 per cent,” said Lalit Agarwal, founder and managing director, V-Mart Retail.
Pepe Jeans expects higher sales over the three days of the Republic Day weekend. It expects its overall growth to be 15 per cent higher over last year. It is running a flat 50 per cent on its merchandise over the next three days.
“We witnessed good growth in December as sales were up in double digits. However, January was tepid and sales were up only 4-5 per cent,” said Manish Kapoor, MD & CEO, Pepe Jeans India.
In electronics, Vijay Sales expects value to go up by 8-10 per cent but volumes to remain flat.
“While all categories may see sales increases, mobile phones are expected to see a higher pick-up and volumes could go up by 5-7 per cent while value growth could be 10-15 per cent,” Nilesh Gupta, managing director of Vijay Sales said.
He also said there are good EMI schemes on laptops. Due to this, the electronics retail chain expects a strong pickup in sales.
E-commerce order volumes during this year’s Republic Day sale events increased 18.7 per cent compared to last year, according to a recent report.
A report by e-commerce enablement platform, Unicommerce, analysed order items processed through its platform during the nine days (13th to 21st January) of the Republic Day sale.
Marketplaces recorded a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) order growth of 28.7 per cent during the period.
Brand websites, on the other hand, reported a muted Y-o-Y growth of just 1.7 per cent, while average order value continued to “showcase strong growth.”
According to the orders processed through Unicommerce’s platforms, Northeastern states reported high growth rates, with Nagaland and Meghalaya taking the lead to become the top two states in terms of order volume growth.
“The consistent growth affirms the strength and potential of India’s e-commerce industry. E-commerce continues to become a larger part of the retail ecosystem and sellers are focusing on both online and offline sale channels, in tune with the evolving shopping habits of buyers,” said Kapil Makhija, MD and CEO, Unicommerce.
Republic Day e-commerce sales this year have primarily been driven by electronics, smartphones in particular.
Beginning January 13, Amazon and Flipkart also rolled out their Republic Day sales in India, offering discounts on products like gadgets and electronic items like smartphones, audio devices, laptops, etc. Smartphones like the iPhone 15, Motorola G34, Poco M6, and Redmi Note 13 Pro+, were available at heavy discounts on these e-commerce marketplaces.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s flagship S24 series also witnessed record bookings during the period. More than 250,000 customers in India have ordered a Galaxy S24 smartphone since pre-bookings opened in the country on January 18.
The company had secured 250,000 pre-bookings for its Galaxy S23 series over a three-week period in India.
