How this year’s festive season sales fared: “decent; not great, but decent”

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : By several accounts, Indians were set to splurge this festive season. And they did–shopping online and on cars and two-wheelers, but for many traditional retailers and consumer goods makers, the season was merely satisfactory. As the lights dimmed on the mega sales period that began in October and stretched on until Diwali in mid-November, a pattern’s emerging on how Indians shopped–making for an interesting narrative on the country’s growth and consumption patterns.

While companies did report growth over the previous year’s festive season, several of them, especially offline sellers of apparel, lifestyle and consumer goods, said shoppers at the mass end of the market spent frugally. These consumers spent on gifts and mobile phones, but went easy on more expensive purchases. “It was decent.

I won’t say great, but it was decent," said B Sumant, executive director, ITC Ltd, which sells a range of products including packaged foods, gourmet coffee, soaps, and deodorants. “I think the stress in the economy is what is affecting the bottom of the economy. At the top of the economy, people have money and they are buying, but you need everyone to buy.

We are seeing some of that strain." To be sure, what had fuelled expectations of bumper festive sales this year was India’s higher-than-expected GDP growth in the September quarter. E-commerce order volumes grew 37% from a year earlier during the just-concluded festive season, according to Unicommerce, maker of an e-commerce software platform. Fashion and beauty and personal care categories were among the most prominent in terms of order volumes.