Expect a bumper Diwali sale this year: MD Vijay Sales, Nilesh Gupta

With the festive season around the corner, one of India’s largest electronics and consumer durable retailers, Vijay Sales is buoyant about high consumer demand this year and claims that it is going to be one of the best festive seasons for the company.
Read: This Diwali, offline retailers attracting consumers with offers, inventory & marketing
In an exclusive interaction with Indiaretailing Bureau, MD Vijay Sales, Nilesh Gupta shares plans for Diwali quarter.
Consumer sentiment looks buoyant this year due to various encouraging factors. Do you foresee a bumper Diwali?
Yes it’s true that we are expecting one of our best festive seasons this year because of a healthy monsoon, and the 7th Pay Commission handout. In fact, there are lot of indicators corroborating this – the first positive indicator has been a good Independence day sale this year which normally is a precursor to the Diwali sales. The quarter too has seen a high single digit growth. Therefore, the beginning has been good and we feel this year there should be a bumper Diwali.
What preparations are underway to lure customers in stores?
At our store level the major preparation is of booking inventories so as to avoid last minutes disappointments. In addition, lot of marketing and advertising plan is also on and we are trying to work out great finance and exchange offers for our consumers.
What is the expected incremental sales growth (percentage) from this year’s Diwali sale?
We expect an increment of 15 to 20 per cent in this year’s Diwali sales.
What is your opinion on online sales this year? Do you think the competition intensity will be lower as compared to previous years?
Online is maturing as a platform and the market reality has set in as their discounting has drastically reduced. Hence the consumers buying for price benefit will be back to offline.
Read: No bumper discounts this festive season: Ebay India
Online retailers will go easy on bumper discounts. Can consumers expect better discounts offline?
Offline traditionally give good Diwali discounts, but more than discounts customers are looking for good finance offers and freebies which would be available this year too.
Read: Sale Storm: E-commerce firms restart sales post new FDI norms