Agencies
New Delhi: The appliance & consumer electronics industry expects around 30 per cent growth in the festive season sales this year after a double-digit booster from online sale events of leading etailers Flipkart and Amazon and an expected final thrust from offline channels during Dhanteras week.
This festive season, premiumisation is the flavour, where consumers are willing to pay extra for features such as energy efficiency, higher capacity and larger size and even showing interest in the high-end AI & IOT Technology-driven products, industry leaders said.
Companies such as LG Electronics, Panasonic, Sony, Godrej Appliances and Haier started festive sales with a good kick start from the Onam festival and expect to continue the momentum till the remaining week of the nearly 45-day festive period, which concludes after Diwali.
To make the premium range as large screen TV panels above 51′ screen size, higher load capacity washing machines and French door refrigerators (with two side-by-side doors), the manufacturers are incentivising with attractive financing schemes, investing in branding and promotion on digital and traditional mediums.
“There is good growth across all categories, especially in premium products like large-capacity washing machines and refrigerators. We are witnessing good demand for products featuring AI & IOT technology,” said LG Electronics India, Senior VP-Home Appliances Sanjay Chitkara.
He added that this festive season, demand for premium products has also increased even from the smaller tier II & III markets, which is encouraging.
“Upcoming week is significant for festive sales as generally during Dhanteras there will be a high sell-out across India,” said Chitkara.
Moreover, this year’s festive season sale also coincides with a strong wedding season this winter.
“There were not many wedding dates in summer this year therefore wedding purchases are complimenting festival sellout,” he said.
Godrej Appliances Business Head and EVP Kamal Nandi said helped by a good monsoon markets have picked up this festive season. The premium leading the charge this season, though mass product segments also have shown significant growth.
“At Godrej Appliances, we have seen a growth of close to 40 per cent since the start of Onam in September compared to last year. October, driven by a combination of Durga Puja /Navratri and the upcoming Diwali celebrations has delivered close to 45 per cent surge so far,” he said.
Over the festive season sales on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart, Nandi said Godrej Appliances has overall “achieved an impressive 70 per cent-plus growth compared to last year”.
Panasonic India’s e-commerce continued to grow in double digits and during Navratri, it witnessed over 20 per cent growth and hopes to continue momentum till Diwali.
“Consumption remains bullish for premium appliances. Whether it is offline or, online consumers are opting for higher ASP (Average Selling Price) products” said Panasonic Marketing India Managing Director Fumiyasu Fujimori.
