Retailers of consumer electronics and home appliances are rejoicing at the bumper pre-GST sale that has advanced the festive mood to June. While, a wide-spread disruption in trade is looming large over the sector once the much-awaited goods and services tax (GST) regime kicks in from 1 July, executives at brick and mortar outlets, selling air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines and television sets, are busy counting money, in exchange of every last piece of inventory that was lying in their godowns.
Retail footfall in these stores jumped by up to 30 per cent in the second week of the month, thanks to heavy discounts and special offers that were lined up to lure consumers. While, discounts at large format electronic retail chains like Croma, Reliance Digital and Vijay Sales ranged between 10 to 50 per cent, stand-alone outlets were quick to pick up the cue. Large format and small outlets in many parts of Delhi, for example, started offering unusual discounts from the first week of June. And many went out of stock for older inventories by the third week. Retail chains began their special offers only in the third week of the month
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