The onset of Dashain has signalled joyous times for the business sector of the country, with common Nepalese splurging heavily on celebrations.
The festive period that grips the country has a huge significance for the domestic business fraternity, and such is the charm that most retail firms admit that the sales within the month long period of Dashain and Tihar accounts for almost 30-35 percent of their annual turnaround.
To bank on this festive charm, corporate Nepal has introduced numerous schemes and plans to woo the buyers. From automobiles to apparels, electronics to essentials, customers are spoiled for choice.
Offers such as buy-one-get-one-free, discounts and lucky draw with millions of rupees on offer, corporate Nepal has it all for buyers. Likewise, major shopping malls and department stores are showering customers with gifts and freebies. Even banks get involved, with several commercial and development banks offering home and auto loan schemes.
Such is the magnitude of the schemes that a single corporate group can spend up to Rs 30 million during Dashain and Tihar, according to prominent advertisers.
The ever competitive business sector of the country has compelled business groups to increase the volume of investments every year.
Dipendra Tandon, director at renowned advertising agency Business Advantage, siad business groups invest Rs 6 million to Rs 15 million on an average for Dashain and Tihar schemes.
“The spending volume depends upon the market trend. If you look at this festive season, paint manufacturers and distributors are spending more, compared to others,” Tandon said.
Prominent industrialist Shekhar Golchha, also the executive director of the Golchha Organisation, feels that schemes are a good way to keep relationships with the customers intact, by offering something that makes them happy during the festive period. “This is why we come up with schemes and offers,” Golchha said.
Such has become the situation that products or services without any schemes and offers during the festive period hardly sell in the market. Traders say that this has been mainly due to the psyche of buyers that the festive period is synonymous with added benefits.
“This tendency of buyers has forced even traditional business groups to compete with schemes during special occasions. Schemes have emerged as something essential for the competitive corporate Nepal, especially during such occasions,” said Rupesh Sharma Bhatta, assistant general manager at the Laxmi Intercontinental, a subsidiary of the Laxmi Group which sells Hyundai vehicles in Nepal.
Another reason why companies introduce schemes during the festive period is to motivate the general public into spending when their disposable income remains high. The government office, as well as private firms, offer allowances and bonuses to their staff during Dashain and Tihar. Likewise, the country witness’s a large number of migrant workers returning from foreign employment with cash in hand. Also, remittance increases heavily during this period, resulting in the purchasing power of general people being much higher.
The government employees receive Rs 20 billion in additional salary and allowances before Dashain, and private sector employees also collect a higher salary for the festival. The influx of the remittance adds extra cash into the hands of people, which encourages people to increase purchases massively during the festival.
Making the corporate sector more aggressive during the festive period is the fact that the period of Dashain and Tihar is the only time when product sales witness a major boost from eastern Nepal to the far western part of the country.
Traders say that there are numerous occasions to cash in on the market in the Kathmandu valley and city areas. However, the Dashain and Tihar period is the only time when the market can be motivated in the rural parts of the country. “When companies start at Dashain, the scheme will go onto Tihar and to Chhat. That means the impact will be higher with a single scheme due to a longer run time in the market,” said Tandon.
Sandeep Hirachan, managing director at the United World Trade Centre (UWTC), says that the best part of Dashain schemes is that it entices low earning individuals into the market. “Budget shoppers are largely attracted by schemes, and they are the ones who contribute in the volume of sales,” Hirachan said.
Ganesh Dhungana, general manager at the KL Tower in Chabahil, said that the festive period, further accompanied by schemes, gives tremendous growth to the footfalls. While in a normal day, footfalls at the KL Tower reaches around 3,000, per day, the figure surges to around 8,000 - 10,000 a day during Dashain and Tihar according to Dhungana.
“The more the people in mall, the more the sales volume,” Dhungana said, adding that they are expecting a growth of over 50 percent in sales during this period.
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