Festival sales: Consumer firms see robust demand across categories

E-commerce firms and online retailers too have been having swinging times

The nine-day Navratri festival, which concluded with Dussehra on Wednesday, has brought unexpected riches to retailers of consumer-facing firms despite persistently high inflation and rate increases by the Reserve Bank of India.

Most of them said the first leg of the period from Navratri to Diwali had been the best in the past two to three years as consumers lapped up everything -- from cars and electric scooters to mobile phones, consumer appliances and apparel.

The bounty comes after two consecutive years of Covid-induced dry spells.

E-commerce firms alone are expected to garner sales worth $11.8 billion this festive season, according to Redseer.

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