CHENNAI: Markets in city that are usually abuzz during Aadi sale, are rather lethargic this season. Shop keepers attribute the sluggishness to the pre-GST sales that stole Aadi season’s thunder.
The week leading to the roll-out of the Goods and Service Tax led to most clothing and electronic stores flagging a GST clearance sale on their products. The uncertainty of the taxes lead to a win-win situation for both shoppers and retailers, with large amount of goods being sold at hefty discounts.
Many shopkeepers feel that since many people did shopping of clothes during the pre-GST sales, the Aadi season has lost its charm this year. Usman road, a retail hub in T Nagar, is lit up with bright “Aadi offer” boards decorating most shops. However, the crowd is no different from that of a regular weekend.
“Only the ones who never availed pre-GST sales offers are shopping now,” said the general manager of a leading textile store in T Nagar.
Shoppers however feel that the sale hasn’t actually deflated the prices. “The prices don’t seem to have reduced because of the sale. Although the boards announce offers of over 50 per cent, the price is mostly similar to regular rates when GST is added,” said Muthu Sheela S, a shopper from Saidapet.
Having two sales back-back means lesser varieties for some customers. “The products on sale are not great and the products that are nice are not on sale,” said Ameer Sadaq, a father who had come shopping for his children at Express Avenue Mall. He added that the shops had exhausted all their good clothing during the pre-GST sale and have very little stock left for Aadi clearance.
The manager of JDS, a clothing store in T Nagar, argues that even new stock was put up on the shelf during pre-GST sales. “We are clearing the left out pieces of pre-GST sale, in addition to the stock from the last two quarters for Aadi sale,” the manager said.
A floor manager at a textile and clothing shop that does not host Aadi sales, said that the number of customers has slightly decreased as they think that clothing has become very expensive after GST roll-out. “In reality, the prices have not changed much. But people seem to think that they may have to shell out more,” he said.
An accountant at a vessel store on Usman Road, that claims to profit from the crowd that clothing shops attract, said that overall, there is no loss because of reduced Aadi crowd, because most people had shopped in excess only recently. “ To me it seems like the sale season started early and the yearly crowd got distributed over a longer time period,” he said.