End-of-season sales begin early for retailers this year

MUMBAI: A long Christmas weekend, early online sales and leftover stocks have prompted retailers across the country to advance their end-of season sales. Department stores like Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons and Lifestyle, along with brands such as Charles & Keith, Massimo Dutti, among others, announced their sales this week.

“What we are hearing from retailers is that they still have a lot of stock left,” said Anupam T., vice-president of Oberoi Mall in Mumbai. “These sales are happening early to liquidate those stocks. The sales have mostly started today, a week earlier than they did last year.”

Rajendra Kalkar, president (west) of High Street Phoenix mall in Lower Parel, Mumbai, agreed that sales have started early. “But I cannot attribute a single reason to it. Some brands in the mall have gone on sale earlier than others.” Among the brands in the mall offering a discount are Inditex-owned Massimo Dutti, currently on an up-to-50%-off sale, and footwear and bags brand Charles & Keith, which is offering flat 40% off during the Christmas weekend.

“The early sales right now are also to capitalise on the long Christmas weekend of December 22-25,” said Abhishek Bansal, executive director of Pacific India, which runs Pacific Mall in Subhash Nagar, New Delhi.

Meanwhile, end-of-season sales on apparel are already underway online. Flipkart -owned Myntra is running an “End of Reason Sale”, offering 50-80% discounts, and Amazon India has a “Wardrobe Refresh” sale with 40-80% off, over the Christmas weekend.

To be sure, global fast fashion brands in India say they have always been on sale in December. “The H&M end of season sale has started in the same week as last year,” a spokesperson for H&M India said in an email, adding that the firm adheres to global apparel sales timelines.

“Sales slowed down in the October-November period, right after Diwali, and the sales in November in particular have not been good,” Govind Shrikhande, MD, Shoppers Stop, said.