Being a Delhite, I am also fond of Sale time. The spring time generally comes with good deal on clothes, shoes and bags etc. But like weather, our economy has also changed and this change is pretty harsh.
This year the sale season started quite early. It came so early that it didn’t wait for 2009 to come. I could get my New Year party dress at great discount in December month only.
Splurge was the keyword early last year. People were spending money on decorating their home or buying branded stuff to buying new stylish vehicles. Then all of sudden various companies started to cut down on the expenses, thereby causing people to lose job. Home loans, car loans and insurance installments were same as before but shopaholics could not resist themselves from 50% to 70% discount.
Shopping in recession time!
After all, just because there is slow down time, people do not necessarily stop pampering themselves. The joy of buying something always makes us feel good. In recession time, when we are more into depression, we need to shop. We just need to be a wise shopper.
Those ‘aspirational’ rich, metro residents and mall going people could not resist themselves by spending little less on their favorite Reebok sports shoes or Louis Philippe formal shirt. Even Bodyshop, Revlon etc are giving discount, and some brands like Lakme are coming with exchange offer on old lipsticks etc. It’s really hard not to shop, even in this hard time.
Future group ventures like Big Bazaar, Home town and Pantaloons are already giving great deals and people are really rushing to buy.
These cases were even seen in USA to China. When I visited China last December, things looked fine (at least from outside) but in USA major electronic stores (Circuit city) and few more were going out of business and were running huge store closing sale.
So how are retailers / store owners working on the mathematics of 50% + 50% discount. That’s something I will figure out. Till then happy shopping!
I think therefore I write! 