Five articles about spends during the festive season in India this year:
- “Whether government stimulus packages announced so far will have an impact on festive consumption is a big question. An even bigger question is whether consumers, who are coping with flat-lining incomes and a poor job market, will respond to the incentives offered by companies. If this Diwali fails to sparkle in terms of consumption demand growth, outlook for the next few quarters will get much gloomier.”
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The ET explains the importance of the Diwali season sales for India’s economy. A useful set of charts.
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.. - “Sawai Makwana, 41, who runs a hair salon and a cafe in Jaipur, is a worried man. This will be my worst Diwali in nearly 30 years, he says. A third-generation hair stylist, Makwana says his business took its first hit in 2016, as a result of demonetisation. Matters have grown progressively worse since he has been forced to close down a section of his salon and sack 14 of his 16 employees. Male customers, who would spend an average of Rs 2,500, have either stopped coming or now just ask for a basic haircut that costs Rs 300, he laments.”
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Always (always!) be wary of biased sampling and poorly researched articles – but here’s an article from India Today about the same topic.
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.. - TechCrunch on how Amazon and Flipkart are dealing with the crisis.
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.. - On the growth in Tier 2, 3 and 4 towns and how they impact these sales.
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.. - And circling back to the ET, early reports seem to indicate that things weren’t quite as bad as was being feared.
EconForEverybody 