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\nBy Gouri Shah<\/i> <\/p> \nBy Gouri Shah<\/i> <\/p>
\nMINT (Exclusive Partner The Wall Street Journal)<\/i> <\/p>
\nDELHI, 2 August 2008<\/i> <\/p>
Mumbai: It was close to midnight and the crowd \nwasn’t showing any signs of letting up. The DJ was still spinning fast paced music \nand finger food and non-alcoholic energy drinks kept coming. And the hosts weren’t \ncomplaining that the party was stretching into the wee hours. <\/p>
That was \nbecause the "party", which kicked off at 10pm and lasted until 2am, \nwas hosted by denim marketer Spykar Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd and had already generated \nthree times the revenue that a similar sale by the company during normal day-time \nhours at the Bandra store in Mumbai.<\/p>
The midnight-sale by Spykar -open \nonly to invitees such as loyal customers, celebrities and media-has become one \nof the many retail innovations that stores are using to get more shoppers into \ntheir stores. And, much like a "happy hour" in a bar, retailers are \noffering steep discounts during such "off" hours or on certain days \nwhen foot traffic is normally slow. <\/p>
Benetton stores, for instance, offered \nshoppers additional discounts if they shopped at different hours, such as starting \nat 7am or say between 9pm and 11pm. These kinds of sales are par for the course \nin many Western markets, especially in the US, where local laws are much more \nflexible on store hours. <\/p>
They are only now starting to happen in India \nthough, much more as a response to weak sales in a slowing economy or as sales \ngimmicks to attract media attention-such as this Mint story.<\/p>
Many retailers, \nsaddled with excessive inventory and caught flat-footed by optimistic sales forecasts, \nhave had to launch early "end-of-season" sales this year and the more \ninnovative ones are trying to stand out in that deep discount clutter.<\/p>
\nFrom homegrown brands, such as Kala Niketan, to major retail chains, such as Shoppers \nStop, Westside and Wills Lifestyle, loyal customers are often invited to have \nthe pick of bargains, sizes and fits in select hours or sometimes a day ahead \nof a conventional sale. Promod, a fashion brand, was doling out croissants and \ncoffee to its best customers who had been asked to check out a special sale preview.<\/p>
\n"The idea was to break through the clutter," says Sanjay Vakharia, director-marketing, \nSpykar. Surprised by the response, the company is now planning an all-India mid-night \nsale each year. "Something that’s more like a carnival," says Vakharia.
\nBenetton, too, says it will turn the annual sale into a festival that the whole \nfamily can enjoy. "We may consider letting out the space in front of our \nstores to different vendors and create a festive mood which can be enjoyed and \nexperienced outside the store," says Sanjeev Mohanty, managing director, \nBenetton India Pvt. Ltd. <\/p>
He says the idea came to him when he saw a long \nline of customers waiting to enter a Benetton store in the Vasant Vihar neighbourhood \nof south Delhi at 2am. "It was crazy, the line was snaking around the store, \nand some people were sitting on their car and eating pizza while they waited for \ntheir family or friends," he recalled. Benetton racked up eight to 10 times \nmore revenue than it does in a normal sale.<\/p>
The plethora of discounts and \nsales stemmed from the April-May period that, according to Darshan Mehta, chief \nexecutive officer and managing director of Reliance Brands Pvt. Ltd, "has \nbeen the worst season ever for the apparel industry."<\/p>
Even before \nthe stock markets tanked and the economy started slowing, events such as the Indian \nPremier League cricket matches kept shoppers out of many malls in the evening \nand over weekends. Devangshu Dutta, CEO of New Delhi-based retail consulting company \nThird Eyesight, says apparel sales are also likely to suffer in a downturn.<\/B><\/p>
\n"While there has been a growth in income over the last few years, the \nspending is now fragmented over more products and services. In a slow down, some \nof these such as apparel, eating out and entertainment are likely to get hit quicker. \nBasics such as food and groceries will get hit later," he said. "The \ndiscounting phenomenon will also be visible in businesses that have expanded substantially \nin the last few years, such as lifestyle, food and grocery chains, etc."<\/B><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Gouri Shah MINT (Exclusive Partner The Wall Street Journal) DELHI, 2 August 2008 Mumbai: It was close to midnight and the crowd wasn’t showing any signs of letting up. The DJ was still spinning fast paced music and finger food and non-alcoholic energy drinks kept coming. And the hosts weren’t complaining that the party […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-quotes"],"yoast_head":"\n