 "Gold, cheap flights, smartphones: Record sales this Diwali as buyers open up purse strings")
Gold buying rebounds this Diwali
Gold glittered this Dhanteras as jewellers experienced good sales driven by better prices compared to last year. Jewelers are betting demand will be rekindled by four straight quarterly declines in domestic prices.
“We expect sales to be 20 percent higher this year compared to last year as gold price is ruling at a better level than last year. There is a lot of traffic in the shop today,” said Rahul Gupta, chief executive officer of PP Jewellers in New Delhi.
Last year, there was a supply crunch of gold in the market after the government hiked its import duty to 15 percent to curb higher import as that was causing imbalance in the current account deficit in the country. Gold price was around Rs 27,700 per 10 grams in the national capital Tuesday.
This year, the Dhanteras ‘muhurat’ was approximately between 7.50-9.14 p.m., according to leading astrologer Milan Thakar of Mumbai. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday greeted the people on the occasion.
“Greetings on Dhanteras. May Lord Dhanvantari bless us with prosperity, joy and good health,” Modi said in a statement.
N. Anantha Padmanabhan of NAC Jewellers in Chennai told IANS: “We expect the footfall to increase. Till now the sales have been average. The sales growth may be 10 percent over the previous year.”
“We expect sales to be good this Dhanteras as the price is good. During the last six-eight months, silver sales were dim,” Jayantilal Challani, president of Madras Jewellers and Diamond Merchants Association and a partner in Challani Jewellery Mart, told IANS.
However, lower prices of gold did not lure buyers in Mumbai.
Prices have come down from around Rs 32,000 per 10 grams to around Rs 28,000 per 10 grams this year, but the market sentiments were hit by overall inflation and higher interest rates, arresting sales, said Mumbai Jewellers Federation president Rakesh Shetty.
“Owing to these factors, the market has been cool with customers largely elusive. However, during the main buying ‘muhurat’ of Dhanteras, footfalls picked up and now we see an increase of around 15-20 percent overall,” Shetty told IANS.
This would still be around 20-25 percent lower than the sales figures of 2013. The current retail price in Mumbai is Rs.27,750, but customers were only making token purchases of between Rs.2,000-Rs.5,000, he said.
P.R. Somasundaram, managing director of the World Gold Council (India), said gold demand on Dhanteras mirrors the general optimism in the economy, reinforcing the traditional faith in gold for the average household as a saving and its increased economic relevance due to various uncertainties on the horizon.
Even retailers usher in record sales
Meanwhile, festival discounts propelled Dhanteras sales through the roof on Tuesday with many brands experiencing a 7-8 fold rise in retail sales over the average daily volumes. According to a Times of India report,India’s largest two-wheeler maker, Hero MotoCorp’s retail sales on Dhanteras zoomed to nearly 1.5 lakh units, compared to an average of around 18,000 units on a normal day while Hyundai’s retail sales shot up to 8,100 units against the daily average of 1,200 units.
Even white goods and electronics goods manufacturers reported a surge in sales. Sony India sold 3000-3500 TVs in Delhi yesterday against the daily average of 400 units, the TOI report added.
A survey of more than 1,200 working professionals by ArthaYantra.com, the online personal finance advisor, found that 73% planned on spending between Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000 during Diwali 2014. This was a marked increase from 2013, when most professionals were spending between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000.
According to Nilesh Gupta, managing partner of consumer electronics chain Vijay Sales, there has been a 20% to 25% increase in demand, with a lot of interest in the latest iPhone.
“We are seeing people are willing to spend money and this is all due to the good sentiments,” he told CNBC-TV18.
Rakesh Biyani, joint managing director, Future Group, agreed that “the uptick is very strong - there is no question about it”. But he declined to put a figure on it and sounded a note of caution, with several days of the holiday still to come before it ended in mid-week.
Another round of fare wars
The Diwali Dhamaka was felt in the skies too after low-cost carrier SpiceJet started another fare war on Tuesday. While SpiceJet announced a one-way domestic fare offer, ranging from all-inclusive fares of Rs 899 to Rs 2,499 for travel between November 1, 2014, to December 15, Jet Airways announced a discounted ticket scheme starting from an all-inclusive fare of Rs 899 while Indigo announced fares between Rs 1,590 to Rs 4,999 on its domestic routes.
Telecom offers freebies too
MBlackberry is offering its users free applications like Diwali Greetings for BlackBerry 10, Indian Sweets Recipes, Party Planning, Party Games, Cocktail Mixer Remixed, Search for Amazon and Flipkart Store Browser, Vodafone is offering a Bumper Two-Day Diwali Flash Sale to woo pre-paid customers in Delhi and NCR with up to 80% off on internet, SMS, voice and bonus card deals.
Microsoft and Amazon are offering a discount of Rs 4,000 on the Xbox One and giving the FIFA 15 game free. The Xbox One video game console is currently available on Amazon.in for Rs 35,990.
South Korean electronics major Samsung has introduced exciting promotional offers on home appliances and audio visual products. These include assured gifts, instant cash back, free installation and service schemes.
OPPO Mobiles India has launched a contest on Facebook that gives users a chance to win the Diwali Bonanza - home digitization products worth Rs 5 lakh - as the grand prize while 10 other winners can take home an OPPO N1 worth Rs 32,990 signed by superstar and OPPO brand ambassador Hrithik Roshan.The Chinese smartphone brand entered the Indian market earlier this year.
With inputs from Agencies
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