Page 14 - Festive Season

Car makers on road to pre-Covid profit as festival season sales soar

Maruti is operating at 95 per cent of its prodcution capacity

Ad spends likely to get double-digit boost as festive cheer returns

Ad spend projected to be Rs 30,000 crore this time - growth of 15% over last year's Rs 26,000 crore

With comfortable coal stocks, no power crisis likely this festive season

India is unlikely to see a repeat of the 2021 energy crisis this festive season as coal-fired power stations across the country have comfortable levels of the fuel stock to meet electricity demand of the world's fastest expanding major economy. Learning lessons from the October 2021 energy crisis, when power stations were put on outage alert, due to coal stocks falling to the lowest level in years, the ministries of coal and power as well as railways this year have worked out a plan to ensure adequate fuel stocks at electricity generating units, officials said. With coal used to produce almost 70 per cent of electricity, officials are confident that the 2021 crisis will not be repeated this festive season that kicks in a week's time. Electricity demand in India has soared with a rebound in industrial activity after easing of pandemic-related curbs. And the increased lightning needs during the festive season is likely to send the demand shooting. According to a coal ministry officia

Nearly 65% households plan to spend during this festive season: Survey

A new survey has revealed that nearly 65 per cent households across the country plan to spend during the current festive season, while 35 per cent will refrain from doing so

Footfalls in stores may rise by 20% this festival season: Local Circles

An increase of 20 per cent in consumers likely to be seen in stores/markets this festival season as compared to last year

Fashion will see the biggest growth this festive season: Redseer report

Despite concerns around inflation and discretionary spending, 83% of the respondents surveyed indicated a willingness to buy this festive season.

E-com firms ramp up hiring delivery staff to meet festival season demand

Companies such as Flipkart, Amazon, Meesho and Myntra are gearing up to host their biggest festive sale events without covid restrictions for the first time in three years

India to see smartphone sales worth Rs 61k cr this festive season: Report

E-commerce channels are expected to capture 61 per cent of the overall sales, down from 66 per cent last year, according to Counterpoint Research.

Airtel, Jio to spend about Rs 400 crore on ads during festive season

Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio together are likely to spend the bulk of around Rs 350-400 crore in festive season advertising

Meesho taps Bharat in its battle with Amazon, Flipkart this festive season

The SoftBank-backed firm is expecting 80% of its orders to come from rural India, which includes small towns and cities

Be ready to meet the credit demand: FM Nirmala Sitharaman to banks

The finance minister said Indian banks have to plan for the Amrit Kaal. And for that, they have to become digitally savvy, especially the public sector ones

Analysts bet on consumer financiers as festive cheer perks up loan demand

Demand for consumer goods, automobiles, white goods has been holding momentum, which should translate into good credit off take for consumer financiers this festive season, analysts said

Dismal festive season for artisans due to 70% cut in post-Covid demand

As Delhi gears up to celebrate Navaratri and Durga Puja with fervour after a two-year Covid pandemic lull, the situation continues to remain gloomy for the city's idol-makers due to curtailed spending by individuals and budget cuts by puja committees. According to the artisans, orders have reduced by almost 70 per cent this year as compared to pre-Covid times and most of the orders are for smaller and cheaper idols, which results in thin profit margins. "Our business got impacted due to the pandemic and the subsequent restrictions. We have returned to work after two years but the business hasn't revived. It is not even even 25 per cent of what it used to be (before Covid) and because of this, we had to reduce our staff," owner of an idol-making shop at Chittaranjan Park Govind Nath told PTI. Eleven idol makers from West Bengal, who used to work in here, went back to their respective hometowns during the first lockdown in 2020, he said. "People have been ordering idols of smaller ..

Kalyan Jewellers up 12% on heavy vol; tops issue price for the first time

With the industry's formalisation and mandatory hallmarking by the Government, the company said that they are well-poised to capitalise on emerging opportunities and demands in the coming years.

Appliances industry expects up to 35% growth in sales during festive season

Appliances and consumer durable makers are looking for up to 35 per cent growth in sales during this festive season on increasing demand for premium products and price hikes. Some of the companies, however, are "cautiously optimistic" about the sales of their entry-level mass products in the country's hinterlands. Companies such as Panasonic, LG, Sony, Samsung, Haier, Godrej Appliances, Voltas, Thomson and BSH Home Appliances expect this festive sale, which started with the onset of Onam in the south, to be better than the last year and even cross the pre-Covid sales volume. The festive season, which starts from Onam and covers Durga Puja and ends with Diwali, contributes around one-third of the overall annual sales value across categories of the industry, which is estimated to be around Rs 75,000 crore. Makers are finalising schemes such as extended warranties, easy EMIs and investing in promotional activities to attract customers, but are worried also over sales of entry-level ma

Myntra creates 16,000 jobs to cater to surge in festive season demand

The ramp-up includes the addition of over 6,300 personnel to fulfil demand across first- and mid-mile delivery and 3,000 personnel to cater to last-mile delivery

Passenger vehicle dispatches surge 21% in Aug on better chip supply, demand

Passenger vehicle wholesales in India witnessed a 21 per cent annual growth in August riding on improved supplies of semiconductors and festive demand, according to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. As per the latest data released by industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), passenger vehicle (PV) dispatches to dealers stood at 2,81,210 units last month, against 2,32,224 units in August 2021. Similarly, total two-wheeler wholesales increased to 15,57,429 units last month, compared to 13,38,740 units in the year-ago period, a growth of 16 per cent. Total three-wheeler sales rose to 38,369 units last month against 23,606 units in August 2021, up 63 per cent. Sales across segments rose by 18 per cent to 18,77,072 units in August this year, from 15,94,573 units in the same month last year, SIAM said.

India's online festive sales to register 28% increase to hit $11.8 bn

The festive month is generally defined as a period starting from the first sales event and lasting roughly till Diwali week

FMCG companies ramp up supply chains, marketing ahead of festive season

FMCG sales in August grew by 6.3 per cent sequentially, according to the latest data from Bizom. Sales had been declining for the previous three months

Temp staff hiring to rise as consumers return to stores in festive season

During the festive season, more than 500,000 short-term jobs are expected to be created