Consumer durable cos to offer discounts to woo customers

New Delhi, Sept. 17: Consumer durable makers expect to clock up to 40 per cent sales growth this festive season by offering freebies and discounts to woo consumers, hoping to put behind the woes they faced in the run-up to GST rollout.

Manufacturers, including Sony, LG, Panasonic and Haier, are pinning hopes on pent-up demand post GST after destocking by trade partners in June, to keep their sales counter ticking.

The companies are also loosening their purse strings for marketing campaigns, with Sony alone earmarking `250 crore and Panasonic looking to spend 1.4 times more this season on branding and marketing exercise. Haier is spending 70 per cent more this year compared to last year.

“In the festive season this year, we plan 25 per cent sales growth from August to November, 2017, over the corresponding period last year,” Sony India MD Kenichiro Hibi told PTI.

There is a huge demand in the market and the same is expected to rise ahead of the festive season, he said, adding “we plan to invest `250 crore towards our marketing activities”.

Industry body Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association said most of the factors point to favourable sales in the festive season. “Pent-up demand due to GST and favourable monsoons leading to good harvest shall boost the rural demand for consumer durables,” CEAMA president Manish Sharma said.