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Lifestyle brands and retailers are looking to end the discounted sales 10-15 days early this year. The reason: Most have seen bumper sales during the first week of the offer itself and the discounted stock may not last till the end of the sale period.
Sales at stores such as Kishore Biyani-owned Central, Birla Group’s Pantaloons and Spanish brand Zara jumped 50 per cent during the first week of the sales period. “If the trend continues like this, we will end the sale period by August 4 and start bringing in new collection,” said Rajesh Seth, vice-president, sales, Central.
Last year, Central ended the sale period on August 15 while many others continued till August-end or September. Retailers sell their merchandise after the end of the season — once in January and then in July.
Shoppers have lapped up discounted merchandise like never before. Many brands like Zara, Mango, Van Heusen, Body shop, Pantaloons offered flat 50 per cent discount on most products.
Sources added Zara has recorded sales of about Rs 1 crore in a day. US Polo saw sales worth Rs 10.5 lakh a day. Brands like Tommy Hilfiger have recorded the highest sales in India at Rs 20 lakh a day, which is four times more than its usual sale. Department store Lifestyle at the Pacific Mall is another star performer, recording sales worth Rs 1 crore a day. “Retailers are selling fast. They don’t have stock. I think the sales period will be curtailed and end by August 15,” said Nirzar Jain, vice-president, Oberoi Mall, in the Goregaon suburb of Mumbai. Jain said many brands kept 30 per cent of their products on sale this time, compared to 40 per cent last year. “The desperation among retailers was less this year as offtake was good. Why would anyone want to sell more on discounts?” Anupam T, chief executive, malls at Runwal Group, said many retailers advanced their sales to catch up with other brands in the market that started sale early. Department stores such as Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle have already advanced their sales. Shoppers Stop, which normally starts sales in mid-August and ends in the last week of September, has started by July 13 this year. Lifestyle started sales in the first week of July. Deva Jyotula, centre manager at Thane-based Korum Mall, said retailers deployed additional staff and stocked extra merchandise to tackle the heightened demand for goods.
Malls such as Oberoi Mall, Korum Mall and others in Mumbai are also coming out with their own sales, where 50 to 100 brands participate in the sale simultaneously. “We want to keep the sale in the last week of July or August first week when most of the retailers are on sale,” Anupam of Runwal Group said.
<B>Sale rush </B><BR>
Malls and retailers are also seeing high conversion rates, that is, footfalls turning into sales. Most leading malls in Delhi, including DLF Emporio and Promenade, have recorded four times their normal sales in apparels. The footfall trend has been consistent across the malls recording an increase of 30-40 per cent, but having higher rate of conversions. “Contrary to the normal belief, the response has been great. It shows that the Indian consumer is becoming smarter with spending. You could say shopping trends of the West are coming to India now,” said Benu Sehgal, vice-president, DLF Saket. Leading malls have also organised shopping carnivals and bumper draws to boost sales. Pacific Mall has a mega prize of Rs 5 lakh for the highest shopper. “We have serial shoppers in our malls, so our conversion rate is any day higher. We also have a shopping carnival where every day we are giving gifts like iPads to our shoppers,” said Ishita Yashvi, assistant general manager-marketing, DLF Promenade.
Sources added high street brands like Gucci, Tod’s, Fendi, Ensemble, Rohit Bal, Janavi and Ogaan fared better than the last year, recording a 25 per cent increase in footfall for the Spring Summer Sale at DLF Emporio. The speculated increase in sales this year is 20 per cent for most high street brands, compared to the other brands that saw an increase of 40 per cent. Gucci officially said the sales response had been “tremendous”, not divulging any further details.
Non-apparel products like men’s watches, men’s bags and other products have not experienced the same boom as clothing. “This year wasn’t up to our expectations and sales were definitely not more than the last year,” said Anish Goel, managing director, Victorinox.
But the shoe brands have been one of the star performers. “We have seen a growth of 35-40 per cent in our sales and footwear has got a great response this year. That’s the new trend that we have seen,” added Abhishek Bansal, executive director, Pacific Malls.
GRAND SEASON
Sales at stores such as Kishore Biyani-owned Central, Birla Group’s Pantaloons and Spanish brand Zara jumped 50 per cent during the first week of the sales period. “If the trend continues like this, we will end the sale period by August 4 and start bringing in new collection,” said Rajesh Seth, vice-president, sales, Central.
Last year, Central ended the sale period on August 15 while many others continued till August-end or September. Retailers sell their merchandise after the end of the season — once in January and then in July.
Shoppers have lapped up discounted merchandise like never before. Many brands like Zara, Mango, Van Heusen, Body shop, Pantaloons offered flat 50 per cent discount on most products.
Sources added Zara has recorded sales of about Rs 1 crore in a day. US Polo saw sales worth Rs 10.5 lakh a day. Brands like Tommy Hilfiger have recorded the highest sales in India at Rs 20 lakh a day, which is four times more than its usual sale. Department store Lifestyle at the Pacific Mall is another star performer, recording sales worth Rs 1 crore a day. “Retailers are selling fast. They don’t have stock. I think the sales period will be curtailed and end by August 15,” said Nirzar Jain, vice-president, Oberoi Mall, in the Goregaon suburb of Mumbai. Jain said many brands kept 30 per cent of their products on sale this time, compared to 40 per cent last year. “The desperation among retailers was less this year as offtake was good. Why would anyone want to sell more on discounts?” Anupam T, chief executive, malls at Runwal Group, said many retailers advanced their sales to catch up with other brands in the market that started sale early. Department stores such as Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle have already advanced their sales. Shoppers Stop, which normally starts sales in mid-August and ends in the last week of September, has started by July 13 this year. Lifestyle started sales in the first week of July. Deva Jyotula, centre manager at Thane-based Korum Mall, said retailers deployed additional staff and stocked extra merchandise to tackle the heightened demand for goods.
Malls such as Oberoi Mall, Korum Mall and others in Mumbai are also coming out with their own sales, where 50 to 100 brands participate in the sale simultaneously. “We want to keep the sale in the last week of July or August first week when most of the retailers are on sale,” Anupam of Runwal Group said.
<B>Sale rush </B><BR>
Malls and retailers are also seeing high conversion rates, that is, footfalls turning into sales. Most leading malls in Delhi, including DLF Emporio and Promenade, have recorded four times their normal sales in apparels. The footfall trend has been consistent across the malls recording an increase of 30-40 per cent, but having higher rate of conversions. “Contrary to the normal belief, the response has been great. It shows that the Indian consumer is becoming smarter with spending. You could say shopping trends of the West are coming to India now,” said Benu Sehgal, vice-president, DLF Saket. Leading malls have also organised shopping carnivals and bumper draws to boost sales. Pacific Mall has a mega prize of Rs 5 lakh for the highest shopper. “We have serial shoppers in our malls, so our conversion rate is any day higher. We also have a shopping carnival where every day we are giving gifts like iPads to our shoppers,” said Ishita Yashvi, assistant general manager-marketing, DLF Promenade.
Sources added high street brands like Gucci, Tod’s, Fendi, Ensemble, Rohit Bal, Janavi and Ogaan fared better than the last year, recording a 25 per cent increase in footfall for the Spring Summer Sale at DLF Emporio. The speculated increase in sales this year is 20 per cent for most high street brands, compared to the other brands that saw an increase of 40 per cent. Gucci officially said the sales response had been “tremendous”, not divulging any further details.
Non-apparel products like men’s watches, men’s bags and other products have not experienced the same boom as clothing. “This year wasn’t up to our expectations and sales were definitely not more than the last year,” said Anish Goel, managing director, Victorinox.
But the shoe brands have been one of the star performers. “We have seen a growth of 35-40 per cent in our sales and footwear has got a great response this year. That’s the new trend that we have seen,” added Abhishek Bansal, executive director, Pacific Malls.
GRAND SEASON
- Many brands like Zara, Mango, Van Heusen, Body shop, Pantaloons offered flat 50 per cent discount on most of the merchandise
- Spanish brand Zara has recorded sales of about a Rs 1 crore in a day
- US Polo recorded sales of Rs 10.5 lakh in a day
- Tommy Hilfiger recorded the highest sales in India by selling four times their usual sale, making Rs 20 lakh in a day
- Department store Lifestyle at the Pacific Mall in Mumbai has been a star performer, with sales of about Rs 1 crore a day
