With the current season of discount sales in its last leg, Amdavadi customers throw caution to the wind sending cash registers ringing at malls as well as stores.
Who says the inflation is hurting consumer sentiments? Amdavadis, it seems, are immune to this hullabaloo. All stores across the city offering discounts in the region of 20% to 60% have recorded a rise in footfalls as well as business during this retail frenzy.
Be it malls, shopping complexes or even mom and pop (single location) stores on CG Road, SG Road as well as Ashram Road, they have all witnessed a minimum sales growth of 25%. Experts from the retail industry believe that the credit of this growth can partially be attributed to inflation.
Last year, the central government hiked excise duty on garments. Add to this, the cotton prices have doubled, said regional manager – operations, Ahmedabad Central, Aashish Gargi.
“As a result, apparel has become dearer by 20% to 30% this year. For example, an average price of a branded pair of jeans, till last year, was around Rs1,800 to Rs2,000. Now, the same pair of jeans is available for Rs2,600 to Rs3,000.” he said.
Interestingly, Gargi said that consumers in Ahmedabad have become more specific about what they want, and that the city as whole is also getting increasingly brand-conscious.
“Earlier, customers used to come, see and buy what they liked. Now, they come with specific demands for certain brands, designs and colours. Ahmedabad has started following fashion trends,” observed Gargi.
At malls, almost every store has been offering discounts. Maximum sales were registered in the apparel and footwear segments during the sale season.
“Despite the current global slowdown, we have witnessed a rise in footfalls as well as in conversion of these in to sales. We saw maximum demand for the apparel and footwear during this period,” said general manager, Himalaya Mall, Deepa Bhatnagar.
For the newest shopping mall in Vastrapur area, AlphaOne, July was the best month since its launch.
“We recorded sales of over Rs20 crore in July. Our average monthly sales, from October 2011 to June 2012, has remained between Rs14 crore and Rs15 crore. However, in July, there were certain Sundays when the sales grew by more than Rs2 crore in a single day. On weekends, footfalls used to go up to as much as 75,000 while on weekdays which on weekdays was much lower during the month,” said VP – marketing, corporate affairs & retail, Alpha G Corp, Dr Prodipta Sen.
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