Malls across various cities in India are expecting a rocking Diwali business season this year as consumers are loosening their purse strings a bit more, resulting in brisk sales of everything from fashion to electronics and from gifting to marriage items.
Pacific Malls in Delhi to Phoenix malls in Western India said business is expected to be up 25% this Diwali compared to pre-Covid festive season in 2019.
“Pick up in footfalls and purchases already started in the last week of September,” said Abhishek Bansal, executive director of Pacific Malls that operates half-a-dozen malls in Delhi and Dehradun.
Rajendra Kalkar, president for mall at Phoenix Mills Ltd, that operates nine malls in Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Chennai among other cities, said the month of May was a good business month for his shopping centres when business went up by about 25% compared to the same season before the pandemic, thanks to the end-of-the-season sales that propelled the sales of most of the brands that month.
“People are hopeful this Diwali will be better than May,” he said without giving any forecast figure.
Last year, Diwali was a somewhat relatively dampened for various malls and brands amid a lower consumer sentiment after a spurt in Covid cases in India in the second Covid-19 wave that started in April 2021 and lingered for months and also impacted the crucial Diwali season.
“Last year, Diwali was a little subdued as Covid was still there. Even though online sales were good, offline sales were hit,” said Harkirat Singh, managing director of outdoor adventure gears maker Woodland.
However, the consumer sentiment started to change over the months with retailers and malls first reporting sales returning to pre-pandemic levels and in recent months growth over the 2019 levels, they said.
“This year it is at a different level and sales are already up 10-15% compared to pre-2019 sales,” Singh of Woodland said.
Retailers and malls expect the good show to go on for months and even well into the next year.
Pushpa Bector, executive director of DLF Retail, that operates about half-a-dozen prominent malls in Delhi NCR, said her company is looking at a 15% month-on-month growth in sales between October and December.
“Diwali business is quite robust and positive,” she said.
