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<\/p>\nSales of apparel were a mixed bag this festive season while those of consumer durables saw an uptick with mobiles, laptops, and air conditioners being in demand.<\/p>\n
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In apparel, Tier-2 and -3 markets did better for some brands, because these have been witnessing an uptick for the past 18-20 months compared to metros.<\/p>\n
“The past two weeks have been good, and we saw a 13 per cent increase in value sales, and volume sales have also been similar,” Manish Kapoor, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), Pepe Jeans, told Business Standard<\/em>.<\/p>\n Tier-2 and -3 cities have done well and premiumisation there has driven demand.<\/p>\n Also, growth has continued even after the festival season for the denim brand.<\/p>\n Celio, men’s wear brand, saw growth picking up after the festival season because cities where the temperature has dropped have witnessed an increase in sales.<\/p>\n “During the Diwali period, sales were in single digits this year. It did not meet expectations. Some pockets suffered, like the north and west (barring Gujarat).<\/p>\n “The south and east markets did well,” said Satyen Momaya, CEO, Celio India.<\/p>\n In consumer durables, sales were in double digits and for some even ahead of expectations as mid to premium products witnessed an uptick.<\/p>\n The Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) has pegged the growth rate this festival season at 20 per cent.<\/p>\n “This festival season, the mid and premium segments did well. Television sales were up also due to the World Cup.<\/p>\n “The industry was expecting a good Diwali this year and it is happy,” said Eric Braganza, president, CEAMA.<\/p>\n Daikin India saw higher than expected sales this year.<\/p>\n It had earlier estimated sales to be 12-15 per cent higher than last year, but they were up 15-20 per cent.<\/p>\n “The April-June season wasn’t good for us this year due to unseasonal weather conditions, but we have now seen a recovery in sales with it being higher than our estimates,” said Kanwaljeet Jawa, MD and CEO, Daikin India.<\/p>\n Vijay Sales said while overall sales were up 15 per cent over the festival season last year, it saw particularly high sales across air conditioners, mobiles, and laptops.<\/p>\n All three categories saw sales increase 35-40 per cent this festival season.<\/p>\n However, the consumer durables retailer saw single-digit sales in television and refrigerator sales.<\/p>\n “Overall the turnover was good this festival season.<\/p>\n “Sales of digital items were higher than those of other categories, while washing-machine sales were flat,” said Nilesh Gupta, MD, Vijay Sales.<\/p>\n