Less-taxing festive season begins

India awaits a consumption boom

- VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO, SWARAJ BAGGONKAR, OJASVI GUPTA & AYANTI BERA

WITH VIRTUALLY EVERY product from cars and air-conditioners to televisions sets and apparel now cheaper, consumers are expected to flock to stores starting Monday.

The festive season is tipped to unleash what could be the biggest consumer spends, in recent years, after the government lowered GST rates on about 385 goods and services and put more money into consumers' pockets through income tax cuts.

With the start of Navaratri on Monday, sales are expected to pick up pace in the coming weeks, gaining momentum as Diwali approaches.

For their part, retailers are ready for the big retail rush having spruced up their showrooms, beefed up their sales teams and updated their billing systems.

Online platforms too have worked at a feverish pitch, stocking their warehouses, reworking seller interfaces and fine-tuning the logistics to ensure products reach customers on time.

Meanwhile the government is keeping a close watch to ensure that the rate cuts are being fully passed on to consumers.

Indeed, Sai Service, among Maruti Suzuki's largest car dealers, has seen an over threefold jump in bookings in a month in the wake of the GST cuts, prompting the firm to set up more counters to manage booking volumes.

"We typically get 30 bookings a month but that has now jumped to 110 bookings. We have stepped up followups with customers and they are coming out in huge numbers to book," a senior sales executive at Sai Service said.

Other auto dealerships too have hired more salespersons to handle the surge in inquiries and bookings following the GST cuts announced on passenger cars.

TWO-WHEELER DEALERS are expecting bookings to increase during Navratri with delivery likely on Dussehra, on October 2.