CHENNAI: Call it the sparkle of spend. After two years of pandemic-induced abstinence, the festival spending spirit is back.
In Chennai, as in other cities, people are whipping out their wallets to buy cars, SUVs, gold jewellery, silk saris and leather bags. Fine dining and resort vacations are back. Many segments are witnessing demand far in excess of supply and some retailers are turning people away.
The biggest buzz is happening in Motown where people line-up for new vehicles, and wait for up to three months owing to the semiconductor chip shortage. “Cars and SUVs are doing well and we are seeing both bookings and inquiries up 30% year-on-year. But the waiting period means we have to carry a large number of bookings till the deliveries happen,” said Chittoor Selvakumar Vigneshwar, deputy MD, Anaamalais Toyota (Coimbatore) and secretary of the Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Associations (FADA). Dealers expect the sentiment to pick up further as IT companies start work-from-office and people look for personal vehicles.
“People are now settling for entry-level cars like Alto because supply is better. For Swift and Baleno, the wait is six to eight weeks, and for Ertiga it is 12 weeks. Many IT companies have given around 40% salary hikes, so we expect demand to go up from October,” says Bharat Chordia of Khivraj Maruti. The first 25,000 bookings for Mahindra XUV 700 were done within an hour last Thursday, and the company is yet to announce the waiting period.
Silk houses are equally busy. Nalli Silks chairman Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti says footfalls in the stores are now at 60%-70% of pre-Covid levels. Hit by the first and second waves, the brand is now focusing more on lightweight saris (less than 500g) priced between Rs 3,000 and Rs 8,500. “Heavy sarees priced more than Rs 1 lakh are now made only on order,” he says. Backed by recovery and with 20% of sales happening online, the brand has relaxed procurement terms. Weavers have relaxed the payment period from 30 days to 60 days to provide a push for better festive sales.
When saris are selling, can jewellery be far behind? People are spending on gold again, says GRT Jewellers MD GR ‘Ananth’ Ananthapadmanabhan. “Customers continue to view gold jewellery as a safe asset. It is an attractive investment, especially for those who view it as a quick and easy collateral for loans,” says Ananth.
Retail uptick is seen in other consumables as well. Dilip Kapur, founder and CEO of leather brand Hidesign, says sales have bounced back after the second lockdown. “Now our expectation is that except for pockets such as airports and Maharashtra, October should see close to pre-Covid level sales,” says Kapur.
A similar trend is panning out in the hospitality sector. ITC Grand Chola GM and area manager south Zubin Songadwala says the crowd is back at its 10 restaurants.
“Because of the government restrictions we have to turn away people every day,” he says. And despite its 600-room inventory, the hotel is at 70% of pre-pandemic volumes. Banquets for weddings are booked up to January 2022.
“Weekends at ECR beach houses are booked for three months and barmen are not available for love or money,” he adds.
With vaccination picking up, the fall in fresh cases of Covid-19 cases is a shot in the arm for businesses and consumers alike.
