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E-tailers fail to impact retail sales [DNA : Daily News & Analysis (India)](DNA : Daily News & Analysis (India) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Vashi: For sometime now, online stores have attracted a lot of people with their festive sales, Diwali being the main. Convenience and ease of buying products is the main reason why people turn to these platforms. And when the prices of products are slashed, nothing better. Several e-tailers have announced huge offers in a necessities as well as luxury products for Diwali. While this surely is a good bet for buyers, does it lead to a subdued business for retail stores? Not really, they assert. Most retail outlets assert that mega online sales have not hampered their usual festive business. At Arcee Electronics, which is spread out across the city with outlets in Vashi, Kharghar, CBD-Belapur, Panvel, Airoli among other nodes, sales have been good. The CMD, Dev Sharma, says, "We have a lots of offers, free gifts, extended warranty that have always been major aspects for customers buying durables during Diwali. Online sales never impact our business as for most people it is a priority to see and check all parts of such expensive products and understand features. In online space, there is not much scope for this and the recent sales have been a bummer because of problems like cancelled orders and price disparities." He added that the way current selling is on, they expect to see a 15-20% rise in margins compared to last year as the extended weekend is also favourable. Jitesh Jashnani, administrative head for Kings Electronics, says they have seen a 25% increase in sales this Diwali. "There have been more takers for durables like TVs and ACs. Overall, sales have not been affected because of online offers, except in mobile phones. The latter because a few selected brands have high discounts on online sites." At Roop Sangam that is known for its ethnic wear, the sales have dipped this year, but the heads do not attribute it to online impact. "We have seen a 20% decrease in our sales as we there have been less footfalls. But, it is not because of online sites as when it comes to various kinds of sarees, the e-tail shops do not have variety," said Rohit Nandu, one of the partners. Credit:Mahalakshmi Subramanian (c) 2014 @ 2014 DILIGENT MEDIA CORPORATION LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |