Black Friday has officially kick started the holiday shopping season in the U.S.
ShopperTrak RCT, a retail industry research firm, said total Black Friday sales rose 3% this year, to about $10.6 billion nationwide,the smallest gain for a “Black Friday” in three years. But retailers say it could have been worse and they hope the positive trend will continue through the season. ShopperTrak has estimated that 9.9 percent fewer shoppers will descend on stores this holiday season, producing a sales gain of 0.1 percent
Compare this with Indian retail scenario
When a single Black Friday sales account for more than $450 billion ,Industry experts believe modern retail could be worth as much as $100 billion out of a total $600 billion Indian consumer market only by 2011.Kishore Biyani told CNN.com."Our sales during Diwali (the festival of lights in October) were quite good, up 18 percent year on year."
But the 18% will be still very less when looked in actual sales figures. So when will India have its Black Friday?Big Bazaar CEO Rajan Malhotra told CNN.com, "I think it is up to modern retail to create occasions of consumption in a market like ours," noting that the chain's "Once in a Lifetime" promotion last month took sales to record levels.
Retail expert Ireena Vittal of consultancy McKinsey says 180 million of India's 205 million households are still intimidated by modern retail, ensuring that traditional retail formats will continue to grow.
I think Indian retail has still a long way to go before we have "Great Indian shopping Day" comparable to the US Black Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment