Sales of bridal wear at an all-time low due to demonetisation

Demonetisation wave is touching every aspect of our life these days, be it jewellery, luxury wear or travel. One of the biggest hit after jewellery and real estate is the bridal wear designers. Stock clearance, cancellation of orders and delayed payments are some of the burning issues that they are facing of late at the time of peak season. Designers say that most buyers usually prefer paying in cash over card or cheque, especially during the wedding season. Most of the transactions (worth lakhs) are in cash, say designers, since spending on designer wear is the easiest way to dispense off unaccounted income. But now with the cash crunch and close monitoring of e-transactions, not many want to get into trouble for a designer outfit. Many have not come to take their order despite paying half the amount in advance.

Designers say that as compared to last year, the sale this season is down by 25-30 per cent. While they have orders for bridal wear that were made much in advance for November-December weddings, they are yet to receive the final payment. The designers are luring customers by saying that they can pay in parts in the months to come. They are even selling through multi-designer stores in Delhi, which do well during the wedding season. But sales have been badly impacted on that front, as one has to make the complete payment at the time of purchase. They have even designed outfits below Rs 1 lakh to lure customers and that seems to be working in favour of them.

Another designer adds that most buyers usually prefer paying in cash (even in lakhs), but this year, demonetisation has entirely halted the same. If any person pays the bill through online mode or through cheque, they will have to share their PAN. Additionally, every big expenditure is under scrutiny so everyone is apprehensive. There are people who have not even come to collect their final outfit.

No walk-in sales

Apart from pre-booked orders, designers used to sell a lot through walk-in orders during the wedding season. The cash crunch has reduced walk-ins considerably. While the pret line is still moving, wedding wear, which sells through walk-ins around this time of the year, has almost stopped. Fashion designer Anju Modi highlights that impulsive buying that has formed an important part of wedding sales is not to be seen this time. People are finding lot many permutations-combinations to fight the legal tender such as postponing or cancelling wedding dates. There are the reports of cancelling some functions such as cocktail parties or Mehendi. This has badly impacted the luxury clothing sales.