Domestic retail chain Vijay Sales on Tuesday said it expects this festive season to be the festival of the decade.

The festive season has kicked off in India with Navratri and Durga Puja. After a two-year lull due to COVID, retailers now expect consumers to spend more this festive season.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18, Nilesh Gupta, director, said, "Post COVID people have realised the importance of consumer durables in their house. So everybody is now interested to buy a bigger size refrigerator or a larger screen television."

Also Read: FADA expects car segment to hit highest sales in a decade this festive period

Gupta said Diwali is the right time to buy consumer durables as the offers that you get in this month, you will never get them throughout the year. So, we expect this festive season to be much better than 2019.

According to the Retailers Association of India (RAI), early sales trends are encouraging. Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO at RAI said retailers are gung-ho about the festive season and are expecting double-digit growth.

"Retailers are seeing good growth in eastern India due to Durga Puja and Dussehra. Most of the retailers that we have spoken to are very gung-ho. They are feeling that their business is growing in double digits," Rajagopalan said.

Also Read: Festive sales: Over 60% of orders on e-com platforms came from tier-II and III towns, says report

For auto dealers, the season has already kicked off on an optimistic note with vehicle retail sales recording an 11 percent year-on-year growth in September due to a weak base.

Vinkesh Gulati, chairman of Research & Academy at FADA, said the auto industry has been growing well, year-on-year there is a growth of around 11 percent but still, there are some challenges.

"Production and dispatches of vehicles to dealers has improved and so waiting period of many vehicles has come down but still, the top models of all the brands are having high waiting period," he said.

A survey conducted by market research firm IPSOS shows that 2 out of 3 Indians are upbeat about spending this festive season.

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First Published:Oct 4, 2022 7:55 PM IST