Sales
are poor at brick-and-mortar shops this Diwali season as online stores
such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon are snapping customers away.
NEW
DELHI: It is a sight that's becoming increasingly common across
electronic and mobile phone stores: the customer walks in, checks out
the product, its price, and then flips open his smartphone and logs on
to an e-tailer's website to check the online price. And more often than
not, finds the price offered by e-tailers to be much more attractive.
The result: poor sales at the brick-and-mortar shops as online stores such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon are snapping customers away. Not just for mobiles and electronic goods, but white goods, shoes, clothes, household goods, books — you name it. The online discount euphoria has hijacked the Diwali rush from retail showrooms this year, and not surprisingly, the mood in markets is distinctly downbeat.
"Footfalls at dealerships this time are nowhere near the levels they usually are during the festival season. The days leading up to Diwali have traditionally been bumper days for us. But the excitement is missing this time around," says a retailer at Gurgaon. "We cannot match the prices offered by e-tailers as we have higher overhead costs."
Take, for example, the 13-inch model of Apple's MacBook Air laptop. While traditional retailer Tata-owned Croma sells it for Rs 72,900, e-tailer Amazon is offering it at Rs 57,798 and Flipkart for Rs 67,999. Similarly, a Bosch washing machine is available at Rs 29,990 on Flipkart, but is retailing for Rs 34,000 at a store in central Delhi's Lodhi Road.
The result: poor sales at the brick-and-mortar shops as online stores such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon are snapping customers away. Not just for mobiles and electronic goods, but white goods, shoes, clothes, household goods, books — you name it. The online discount euphoria has hijacked the Diwali rush from retail showrooms this year, and not surprisingly, the mood in markets is distinctly downbeat.
"Footfalls at dealerships this time are nowhere near the levels they usually are during the festival season. The days leading up to Diwali have traditionally been bumper days for us. But the excitement is missing this time around," says a retailer at Gurgaon. "We cannot match the prices offered by e-tailers as we have higher overhead costs."
Take, for example, the 13-inch model of Apple's MacBook Air laptop. While traditional retailer Tata-owned Croma sells it for Rs 72,900, e-tailer Amazon is offering it at Rs 57,798 and Flipkart for Rs 67,999. Similarly, a Bosch washing machine is available at Rs 29,990 on Flipkart, but is retailing for Rs 34,000 at a store in central Delhi's Lodhi Road.
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