This Diwali, the phenomenal craze of online shopping has resulted in massive losses to retail stores. Traffic and parking hassles are further preventing the crowd from mall-hopping. By Karan Bhardwaj
Diwali is perhaps the biggest draw in the market. Every year, the upswing in sensex (read local markets) helps the business recover and generate surplus for rest of the year. Be it small vendors on streets or the big malls selling high-end luxury, the happiness spreads across the board. However, the picture is not that glorious this year. The busiest markets in the city which used to be abuzz with multi-million transactions are looking for customers. To everyone’s surprise, from well-known shopping spots at prime locations like lajpat Nagar, Sarojini Nagar, Pitampura and Janpath to popular city malls are cringing in absence of footfalls which have plunged drastically. However, some locality fares are doing fair business.
Balance sheet
One of the major reasons behind conspicuous absence of people in markets is the phenomenal craze for online shopping. The websites such as Amazon, Snapdeal, Jabong and Myntra are offering mind-boggling offers and discounts to their customers. Flipkart’s Big Billion Day offer, which crashed in few hours due to burgeoning traffic, was just a teaser. Amazon recently concluded its week-long ‘Diwali Dhamaka’ and witnessed a 200 per cent (two-fold) jump in its traffic on the first day of the sale. As a result, retail shops are suffering huge losses. Dheeraj Sharma, Wrangler’s store manager in Pritampura informs, “There’s a fall of 30-40 per cent in sales as compared to last year. Online shopping has caught up big time. While malls and markets are lacking footfalls, online websites are churning out volumes of business.” A recent ASSOCHAM survey finds out how consumers have become Internet savvy because of the fast and simple payment and delivery service. “Apart from convenience, rising fuel price, security reasons, online discounts and availability with abundance of choices are keeping consumers indoors,” reads the report.
WHY ONlINEIJ
Shopaholics claim that e-commerce is hassle-free. Navneet Arora, a varsity lecturer, has not stepped out at all this Diwali. “I used to go out every year but the traffic hurdles and the parking issues haunt me. So I chose to sit on my laptop and wisely invest my savings on decorative items, apparels and some household stuff. I was shocked to find fabulous discounts. Also, they are offering impressive exchange offers.” Tarun Bansal, MD of Blue Pigeon Image Management says, “The young tech savvy generation is happy to explore products with the features and reviews on their gadgets rather than to have a touch feel of product.” When it comes to apparels, experts believe that people spend most on seasonal sales rather than waiting for Diwali offers.
BRAVE THE COMPETITION
The local retail stores are inventing ideas to retain the customer base. They have started door-to-door campaigns. Also, they are revising their policies to be at par with online counterparts. “We have revised our exchange offers. We allow customers to return the items within seven days. We are also explaining shoppers the importance of visiting the brick and mortar stores. There have been several frauds in online shopping,” Sharma points out.