Businesses and merchants have said that the GST rate reduction has caused a spike in expenditure, with durables, fashion and footwear reporting sales growth of 20–40% in the last ten days, including during Dussehra. They claim that the momentum will probably continue until mid-October, when Diwali is observed. On Thursday, people celebrated Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra.
Retailers and businesses reported that although many city dwellers took an extra day off on Friday to extend their weekend and plan their travels, this did not lessen the celebratory spirit that was evident on Thursday.
CEO and ED of Lifestyle India, Devaranjan Iyer stated that in apparel and footwear, retailers like Lifestyle India, which is the country’s largest departmental store chain, are seeing a sales growth of 15-20%, ever since the GST rate cuts were implemented on 22nd September. He further added that the momentum continued to remain high on Dussehra and strong footfall and sales conversions were reported across Lifestyle’s stores, despite rain in several parts of India including Maharashtra and Odisha.
Devaranjan said that the overall mood is upbeat and there is buoyancy in the market. Consumers have now come out and are shopping after GST rate cuts in apparel and footwear were announced in the value segment.
For malls and high streets, the trend is no different. Mukesh Kumar, CEO of Infiniti Malls (part of Raheja Realty), which has two properties in Mumbai – one in Andheri and the other in Malad – said that there has been at least 15-20% increase in footfalls in the last one week. Sales growth has been around 30% more compared to last year in categories like durables, apparel and footwear, which have seen 7-10% price drop.
