Inflation to hit festive spends

INDORE: Inflation coupled with the uncertainty about an impending slowdown has taken the fizz out of customers as the festival season begins. The gloomy market trend is keeping the companies and retailers on the edge. Though most hope the situation to improve, most are coming out with attractive combo offers and interest free finance.
After a very slack quarter, the industry was looking up to the festive season to make up for the losses.
However, an Assocham study suggests that majority of consumers will spend less this festive season this year due to inflation.
Subhash Gangwal, district president, All India consumer protection organisation, told TOI, "Market is going down these days. Soyabean farmers are getting lower than the expected price of their produce. In such a scenario, the people would be cautious about spending during the festivals. They will restrict their expenditure to buying only the essentials."
Manan Bakliwal, a retailer said, "We are witnessing a major downturn in sales as customers are not willing to spend. Inflation is taking its toll on the people's pocket here. Still, I am hopeful of doing good business through my recently launched outlet, French Connection, as it is targeted at the rich who are not that much affected by the inflation."
Similarly, FMCG companies are coming up with new offers in their bid to lure customers during the ongoing festive season. The state with a population of 7 crore boasts of being in the league of the metros when it comes to consumption of consumer goods. Referring to a research report, senior general manager of Wagh Bakri group sales, Sanjay Shah, said that Madhya Pradesh comes only after the four metro cities in the country on the front of consumption.
It is why we are planning to increase our penetration in the state by making our products available to 40,000 retailers, when compared to the existing mark of 25,000, over a period of one year from now. He was here to introduce the Mili tea. Similarly, Zen mobile has launched a low-cost smartphone and ultra tablet in the city.
Telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, has rolled out a national level performance-based recognition and engagement programme for its retailer partners called 'Navratna'.
Rajnish Kaul, CEO, Bharti Airtel, MP & Chhattisgarh, said, "The programme not only recognizes contribution of our partners, but also provides opportunities for them throughout the year to win exciting prizes including a trip to Bangkok."
Another telecom player, Vodafone, has launched a set of attractive unlimited data packages for its customers in India visiting Japan and Saudi Arabia. The unlimited international roaming data package offer enables customers to use data on mobile services while travelling abroad.