Inflation has hurt consumer sentiment in mass segments, but premium products are faring better; home furniture, storage, kitchens, air coolers and washing machines see good demand
The demand for home appliances often escalates during the festive season, though factors such as inflation and discretionary spending impact retail buying. A dipstick for this segment shows that while demand has improved year-on-year from a low base last year, sales in the second half of the year are expected to be better than the first half.
Godrej appliances, in the current financial year, is close to 50 percent value growth in comparison to the same period last year. “We anticipate that the mass segment consumers who have been postponing purchases will come forward during festive and expect some improvement in discretionary spending towards appliances,” says, Kamal Nandi, executive vice-president and business head of Godrej Appliances, a business of Godrej & Boyce.
Air coolers manufacturing leader Symphony – which has a presence in 60 countries – has already recorded its highest ever standalone and consolidated Q1FY23 (April to June) sales, of Rs329 crore. About 57 percent of these were through domestic sales while the balance was from overseas.