KOLKATA: Shopping hubs in the city witnessed a manic Monday powered by the dual bonanza of a price drop, brought about by the GST rate slash that took effect during the day, and special festival discounts.
Shoppers with a pent-up urge to splurge came out in droves and snapped up items on their wish list, ranging from apparel to electronic appliances, that have suddenly become a lot cheaper.
Retail outlets, many bursting at the seams, reported sales twice or thrice the figures recorded in the run-up to the rate cut rollout and are hopeful that the windfall and discounts would help them make most of the last few days before Durga Puja.
"The countdown is finally over," said Nidhi Vimal Ghosh, from Dum Dum, who came to Esplanade to buy an LED TV.
"We checked the price last month but decided to defer the purchase and wait for the prices to fall. The TV we wanted to buy cost Rs 21,500 then. The price is Rs 16,000 now, thanks to the rate cut and a discount," she said.
Retailers offer sops to lure buyers away from e-tailers The GST rate on appliances such as ACs, LED TVs (43 inches and above) and dishwashers has come down from 28% to 18%. The rate on garments priced up to Rs 2,500 has been slashed from 12% to 5%.
Nibedita Seal, from Chinsurah in Hooghly, bought a pair of jeans and a kurti from a Lindsay Street store and saved Rs 500. "Apart from the Rs 150, I could save on each item because of the tax relief, the store offered a discount of Rs 200," she said.
Tollygunge resident Indranil Raha had long been planning to buy an AC. "We finally bought it today and could save Rs 3,000," he said.
Electronic retailers are offering up to 50% discount on certain products to lure customers away from e-commerce platforms that have announced hefty rebates as part of their festive sales.
Rajesh Roy, branch manager of Khosla Electronics at BBD Bag, said, "In the past few weeks, we had customers who left after checking ACs or LED TVs. They are back today. The sale has risen by almost three times." Devendra Baid, director of garment brands Kidscare, Funky, and Welfit, too, said his stores saw a three-fold rise in sale compared to past few days, when people would mostly come, browse the shelves, enquire about prices and leave.