Splurging symptoms seen in time of flu

Spectre of swine flu and the hangover of global slump failed to deter shoppers from making the most of festival offers announced by city malls and hyper markets during the three-day weekend (August 14-16). Almost all malls did roaring business during the weekend. Industry sources said that there was a notable jump in sales. Footfalls witnessed a sharp spike and a high proportion of visitors turned into avid shoppers.    

According to retail industry experts, around 30-35% of footfalls converted into purchases at the malls and hypermarkets.  They reportedly did business of over Rs100 crore during the weekend. Retailers said they did better business compared to last year as the footfalls were decent.

Big Bazar alone saw close to 60% conversion of footfalls into purchasers at its outlets across the city between August 12-16, said a source in Big Bazar. Anand Adukia, zonal chief, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, said, “We recorded around 7 lakh footfalls in five days during the festival in Gujarat and Rajasthan.”The number of footfalls in Ahmedabad was close to two lakh, which is comparatively good. The sales almost match the business of around six weeks, he added.

A large number of shoppers visited the malls and hyper markets with their families, wearing masks or handkerchiefs for protection from swine flu. But for the industry it was heartening that the fear of getting infected with H1N1 virus (swine flu) didn’t stop them from going out for shopping.

The general manager of Himalaya mall, Anshu Mathur, said, “We were very apprehensive that people may not visit our mall in large numbers because of the swine flu fear. However, the kind of response we got is tremendous and very positive.”

Himalaya mall experienced around 1 lakh footfalls during the three days and close to 35% of it resulted into purchases, which is significant for us, said Mathur.

What attracted people to the malls and hypermarkets were some never before discount schemes on offer. People from all strata of society did brisk shopping, keeping upcoming festivals like Navratri and Diwali in mind. 

Retail consultant and coordinator at the Mahatma Gandhi Labour Institute, Rakesh Bhavsar, said, “What made the three-day weekend sale successful was the bundle pricing. Three-four items were clubbed into one and sold as a package, which attracted people the most.”  Even multiple option in bundling helped to achieve higher sales. Here, both buyers and sellers were in a win-win situation as their interests were fulfilled, Bhavsar added.

The retailers recalled that last year the footfalls were less, but the quantum of business was more than the previous year (2007). However, this time the footfalls were really high and even the conversion ratio was decent.

Electronic goods, home appliances and home fashion items, including furniture, witnessed brisk sale at all places, specially in Big Bazar. Fashion apparels also did very well. 

The GM of 10 Acre Mall, Indranil Banerji, said, “In eastern Ahmedabad, we normally see more genuine buyers than window shoppers. We got good number of footfalls and buyers’ interest was seen in almost all product segments.”