On day 1 of 'unlock', buyers give Delhi and Mumbai markets a miss

Hope rides on durables to draw people back to trading hubs, high streets

Since the Delhi chief minister announced unlocking measures over the weekend, Bharat Ahuja has spent most of his time in and around his shop at Bhagirath Palace – one of the largest trading hubs for electrical goods in the country. Ahuja, who presides over the Delhi Electrical Traders’ Association (DETA), has recently recovered from Covid-19. But that has not stopped him from negotiating the congested lanes of Chandni Chowk in the walled city of Delhi since Sunday afternoon, overseeing the work to mark all business outlets in the area with odd-even signs.

It was a difficult task. With over 4,100 outlets in dozens of labyrinthine lanes and obscure alleys, Ahuja and his team could only manage to finish numbering the ground floor shops by Monday evening, leaving the rest for the next day.

Like Delhi’s other business hubs, the Chandni Chowk market was also shut for over one-and-a-half months, but since Monday morning a large section of traders showed up to lift their shutters. And a massive sanitisation drive was organised before business could resume. But what remained missing was the flock of buyers that is known to choke the market’s narrow lanes at any given time of the day, every day.

DETA estimated that while over 50 per cent of the traders and staff were present on Monday, the number of customers was miniscule. “Only those desperately in need of electrical goods came by as the fear of Covid and lack of public transport kept many indoors. Now we are considering to deliver at locations as queries over the phone are growing,” said Ahuja.

Far from the old-world Chandni Chowk, in the posh DLF Promenade Mall at Vasant Kunj, Pushpa Bector, executive director, DLF Retail, was busy inspecting the mall’s preparedness in the afternoon. The high street destination managed to call in all its staff and half of its retailers – as stipulated by the new guidelines – on Day One, but hardly any customers turned up.

Bector said providing a safe environment to the customers is the top priority at the moment and may help boost confidence among buyers. “Very few people have showed up for shopping till now, but unlike earlier, almost all of them are serious buyers. Window-shoppers have so far avoided visiting our establishments,” she said.

Retailers and traders are expecting the situation to normalise by next week. Leading electronics chain Vijay Sales, which has chalked out a plan to follow the odd-even rule, has 26 outlets in the national capital region, of which less than half could be opened on Monday. But Director Nilesh Gupta is confident that sales of “essential durable items” will pick up soon. “Refrigerators, kitchen appliances and notebook computers are in high demand. We have enough stock to meet the expected surge from pent-up demand,” he said, adding that there was a bit of a rush at some of their outlets in Mumbai today, since shops were open up to 4 pm only. “We saw a similar trend last year, too, after the national lockdown," he said. Vijay Sales has 45 stores in Maharashtra: 33 in Mumbai and 12 in Pune.

A recent study by the Retailers’ Association of India noted that durable retailers would likely be the first ones to recover from localised lockdowns this year, as the need for upgrades and replacements push people to buy products.

However, the impact of the severe second Covid wave on overall consumer sentiment could spoil the party. According to Manish Sharma, president and CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia, the gradual opening up of the economy will improve sales. “But the consumer sentiment is low and people are not keen to step out. We may see a loss of nearly 60-65 per cent against sales projections during the ongoing quarter,” he said.

For now, the durables maker is keeping a close watch on both – its internal operations and buyers’ behaviour. Apart from maintenance work at its facilities, Panasonic has also resumed operations in a phased manner.

Given the summer season is at its peak, “air conditioners and refrigerator will see healthy growth now. We also expect an increase in the demand for televisions, washing machines and microwaves since a lot of people are still working from home with limited household help,” said Deepak Bansal, vice-president of corporate planning at LG Electronics India. Gupta agrees, adding phones, laptops to the category that will be in demand. "We did notice that curiosity levels for new phones and laptops were high at some of our stores in Mumbai. This should translate into sales going ahead."

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, beauty and wellness retailers also expect walk-ins to improve with non-essential shops opening up. Monday, though, saw few walk-ins at most stores.

Enrich Salons Director Bhupesh Dinger said enquiries at the company's call centre were growing. "People are lining up appointments in Mumbai. While the men seem to be responding quicker than women for their grooming needs, the latter will also line up appointments shortly, since organised players such as us are safe," Dinger said.

Of the 53 Enrich Salons in Mumbai, 45 were open on Day One. Eight outlets in malls were shut, since shopping centres in the financial centre have not been permitted to operate yet, unlike in Delhi.

"It is a little disappointing that malls have not been permitted to re-open in Mumbai yet. Formal retail spaces are safe places to shop," said Mukesh Kumar, CEO, Infiniti Mall, which has properties in the Mumbai suburbs of Andheri and Malad. Kumar said the revenue loss to malls in April-May was to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore and quick re-opening would aid recovery.