It’s an unprecedented situation for Rahul Bahl, the owner of Bahl Enterprises, a utensil and appliances shop in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi, who is sitting idle on a Friday evening barely a week before Diwali. “There are hardly any customers in the market, despite it being Diwali time. People prefer to buy online, where they get a lot of discounts and offers which we are not able to compete with. Big shopkeepers and brands might be doing well, but small shopkeepers like us are suffering. At my shop, sales are down by 50%-80%,” he lamented.
A shopkeeper for over a decade, Bahl sums up the quagmire for physical shops when he discloses people come to the shop just to check out the products but end up buying online because of cheaper prices. “The rush in the market is mostly at the eateries. Not only are things cheaper online, e-commerce saves them the hassle of traffic and parking. Moreover, shops like us cannot provide EMI options like online.”
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Chetan Kumar, the owner of Paradise, a shop selling accessories and bags in Palika Bazaar of Delhi, is more blunt. “Online stores have ruined the market. Customers don’t believe anymore that our prices are genuine. In the past few years, we have seen sales decrease by approximately 30%.”
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Their views are echoed by many shopkeepers in popular markets across the national capital such as Janpath and Lajpat Nagar. Also, overall sales estimates of online platforms and brick-and-mortar stores reflect the precarious situation of the latter.
An estimated trade of Rs 4.25 lakh crore is likely in offline stores this Diwali, according to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). Retail markets across India registered a trade of Rs 3.75 lakh crore last season.
And, while store sales might be up this year, it is less than half of what e-commerce is delivering this Diwali — merchandise worth over Rs 10 lakh crore.
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