Lockdown-hit online biz offers heavy discount

Boutiques, beauty product dealers, among others, hit hard

Smalltime online businesses are selling their wares at massive discounts, albeit with an interesting proposition: Buy now, get delivery after the lockdown ends.

For most of these retailers, this is a desperate attempt to stay afloat during the crisis brought on by the lockdown. They are often selling at a loss in return for liquid cash that could be used to pay bills and their staff salaries.

These businesses are often dependent on social media websites such as Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to interact with customers. They deal mostly in boutique clothes and luxury items such as travel accessories, makeup products and customised gifts. For instance, city-based boutique Kadhambari Studio, which has over 1.2 lakh Instagram followers, has been selling their products at massive discounts for the past few days. Through what they have dubbed as a “lockdown sale”, they manage to sell a couple of high-end sarees everyday. Deliveries of these items would only be made after the lockdown ends. An employee admitted they were not making any money off of these sales. He said this money would be used to pay the artisans they have in their employ.

Although these products are being sold at such tempting prices, many retailers said there isn’t much demand. Veena, who operates a designer boutique in Banjara Hills and sells sarees and dress material through Instagram, said she made virtually no sale until May, when some restrictions were finally lifted. “A lot of the customers are scared of placing orders. There isn’t much money in the market right now,” she said.

Some retailers said there is apprehension regarding delayed deliveries. Anvesh, owner of a Mumbai-based business that deals in customised accessories, said, “Customers wonder if their orders will be honoured. Though we have said deliveries will be made after lockdown, we don’t really know when that is. There is a lot of uncertainty.”

Anvesh’s company has been selling products at

50-60 per cent discounts on regular prices. “We are actually losing money on each order. But we are doing this so that we are able to pay the salaries of our employees,” he said. The company has around

20 employees, including artisans. “If this situation doesn’t get better in a couple of months, we would have no choice but to let go of some of them,” he added. Veena, and several other retailers, hoped there would be relaxation for small business owners soon. She is looking at bankruptcy within a month. In fact, a month ago, she reached out to some of her older customers to procure food for her employees, many of whom are migrant workers from West Bengal. She has no money to pay the rent for her boutique or her employees’ wages.

“My employees have been planning to go home, but they have been unable to get a train. When they go back, they are unlikely to return for a long time. I can imagine how bad it will be then. I hope the government allows us to function now so we can start working again,” she said.