Durables, fashion & footwear see up to 40% rise in sales

THERE HAS BEEN asurge in spending triggered by the GST rate cuts with durables, fashion and footwear seeing a sales growth of 20-40% in the last ten days including Dussehra, companies and retailers have told FE.

- VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO

The momentum, they say, is likely to last till Diwali, which will be celebrated mid-October. Dussehra and Gandhi Jayanti were celebrated on Thursday.

While many consumers in cities have taken an additional day’s off on Friday to make it a long weekend and organise travel plans, it did not take away from the festive fervour which was visible on Thursday, retailers and firms said.

Consumer durable companies such as LG, Samsung, Haier and Godrej Appliances are seeing sales growth rates of 35-40% (versus last year) in categories such as large-panel TVs, dishwashers and air conditioners, top executives said, as a combination of pent-up demand along with GST rate reduction pushes up sales. The above-mentioned categories have seen GST rationalised to 18% from 28% earlier, bringing it at par with white goods such as refrigerators and washing machines.