The sharp increase in covid-19 cases since the start of the year has begun to impact the sales of offline retail electronics stores that had started to see some recovery on the back of festive season sales.
“Offline retail has been on the again foot for the reason that pandemic. Simply once they had begun to get better, the concern of one other covid wave has disrupted gross sales. After Omicron, customers will not be coming to markets. Gross sales have dropped by as much as 70% for some shops,” mentioned Arvinder Khurana, nationwide president, All India Cell Retailers Affiliation (AIMRA).
Gross sales have dropped by 30-35% in giant format retail shops, which have 1000’s of merchandise, Khurana identified. In chain shops, gross sales have dropped by 50%. In areas the place the federal government has begun imposing curfew and the place instances have elevated, gross sales have dropped by as much as 70%.
“January was a lean month. Gross sales have been additionally impacted due to Omicron. Stroll-ins have dropped by nearly 50%,” mentioned Manish Khatri, associate, Mahesh Telecom.
Gross sales of some merchandise have declined, however, some shops have seen a rise in demand for laptops. At Vijay Gross sales, “laptop computer gross sales elevated once more. Total gross sales have decreased by 10% in comparison with final month,” mentioned Nilesh Gupta, director of the agency. Mint had earlier reported that pocketbook demand in 2022 will probably be pushed by business and authorities orders to help the return to work.
There was a scarcity of a number of key merchandise over the past two to a few months, together with iPhones, that are solely being equipped to giant retailers, in line with Khurana. For manufacturers similar to Mi, merchandise can be found just for every week. Shares have additionally been hit by a chip scarcity. Sub 15K smartphones are in brief provide and 80% of them at the moment are being equipped to on-line shops. Manufacturers are additionally prioritizing premium smartphones owing to a chip scarcity.
(Source from Mint)
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