End-of-season sale fails to cheer India's retail biz

Discounts, sale, were the words that lured the consumer to shopping so far but this time

around, even that strategy seems to have failed. The end-of-sale season that concluded on January 26, saw lukewarm response. Retailers, hoping to make some profits amid the slow economy, high inflation and low consumer sentiment were left worried with the kind of footfalls witnessed by stores during this period. The retail majors were able to register only 10-12 percent growth in sales during the three-day sale leading up to the Republic Day.

Experts say, the entire retail industry is suffering with low consumer buying in general as well as during the sale season indicating a very slow recovery of the entire retail sector. The industry has witnessed just a single-digit growth over the last one year. For example, department stores such as HyperCity posted only single digit jump in sales, as the sale season failed to attract customers.

In the past, retailers have seen Republic Day sales bringing in the highest single non-festive period sales but experts feel the year round discounts or freebies coupled with other lucrative offers made a negative impact. According to them, during the Republic Day weekend, only those malls which announced flat 50 percent discount saw some activity and could report a double-digit growth.