Sales of room heaters, as well as geysers, have soared up by almost 150 per cent last month due to intense cold wave conditions in northern India, especially in Delhi-NCR. As a result, retailers were struggling to cope up with the increased demand. “During the last week of December 2019, sale of room heaters witnessed steep rise in demand by almost 150 per cent. This is one category, which is doing brisk business presently,” said Amit Kapoor, senior executive Reliance Retail, Janakpuri, adding, “It is not just Delhi, but we have seen rise in demand for room heaters in states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. In many stores inventories are sold within a week.”
The demand for room heaters is higher than the normal winter sales, according to retailers.
Many brands have gone out of stock due to unprecedented demand in the past week with some companies restarting the production for basic models, they said. Room heaters and geysers sell only for two months, so companies manufacture them on the basis of demand as they do not want to keep unsold stocks for the next 10 months, according to manufacturers.
Moreover, some retailers have admitted that they sold units at higher than maximum retail price. Due to robust sale of room heaters as well as geysers, their consumer business has grown in double digit in the last ten days, Bajaj Electricals claimed. Sale of geyser has also gone up by 50 per cent, claims retailers.
Meanwhile, Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) has witnessed the coldest winter in the last 119 years during the last week of December 2019.
The entire north India reported sub-10 degree Celsius of maximum temperature. The situation has slightly improved in the last couple of days, however, there are predictions that the cold wave will return from the second week of January.
This has added more cheer to consumer electronics companies and retailers that had witnessed poor festive sales last year in the wake of economic slowdown.Moreover, the demand is very high for oil filled radiator room heaters and heat convectors, as they remain the most preferred option for users. The room heater market is worth more than `500 crore and majority of it is being controlled by the unorganised sector.