Leading consumer electronic retail chains are getting richer before GST

For the consumer electronics industry in India, festive season has come early this year, as they have seen manyfold rise in the number of televisions, refrigerators and air-conditioners sold in June, right before goods and services tax (GST) is rolled out from July 1.

The number of these appliances sold matches with what they sell in the peak festive season around Diwali, with monthly sales increasing 85-90% from the year earlier.

The reason behind this jump in sales is the big discounts that these sellers have offered to attract customers and clear their stocks before GST rollout.

Expecting a rise in prices of consumer durables after GST, customers went berserk in shopping and the discounts further helped.

"It has certainly been a huge month with sales growing 80-90% over the same period last year, considering June is usually a month when consumer durable sales tend to dip," Brian Bade, chief executive at Reliance Retail’s digital formats told ET.

Nilesh Gupta, MD of Vijay Sales said that the sales match with that of last year’s Diwali and Dhanteras put together.

"However, it's not profitable growth as bulk of the merchandise was sold on discounts," he said.

Moreover, the industry would face a slump next month since customers have already purchased what they wanted and those who haven’t would probably postpone buying costlier appliances post GST.

(Image source: Global Retailer)