Dhanteras brings out best retail day of year

On Dhanteras, consumers flocked to retail stores across India to purchase a wide range of goods, from cars and refrigerators to apparel and footwear, driving companies and retailers to achieve their highest single-day sales of the year. The surge in demand boosted festive season sales by up to 20% in value and 5-8% in volume compared to the previous year, across most categories, according to top executives at several companies. E-commerce orders also saw a significant surge, exceeding 20%.

However, some product categories, such as smartphones, smart TVs, and laptops, experienced declines, with unit sales falling up to 15% due to sharp price increases of up to 40%. Despite this, overall value growth remained positive.

Car dealers in north India reported nearly a month's worth of customer deliveries on Dhanteras, with vehicle sales for the festive period from Navratri to two weeks after Diwali expected to remain flat due to the high base of last year when sales surged 21% post GST rate cuts. Market leaders, including Maruti Suzuki, reported robust growth, with retail sales between Ganesh Chaturthi and Dhanteras growing 17% to 400,000 units.

The strong festive demand, considered India's largest sales period, will provide relief to companies and retailers as they navigate challenging economic conditions, including deficient monsoons, high food inflation, IT sector employment volatility, geopolitical uncertainties, and the risks of El Niño weather conditions.