The ascendency of India as an economic world power

There should be no relationship between IPL and retail industry in India. Well, IPL craze has touched many aspects of life in India and it seems that IPL has touched the retail industry too. In the last few years, many big retail super stores have been set in the big cities in the country. Many consumers are busy with IPL matches in the evening time and they prefer to remain at home instead of going to retail stores.

Economic Times reported:

Matches are played and screened at prime time, overlapping with the hours when retailers conduct nearly half of their business, between 6 pm and 9 pm.

“The drop in walk-in customers is 20-30% since the IPL season started,” says Chakor Jain, business head for Lee at Arvind Brands. Businessmen estimate a conversion rate (from walk-in to sales) of 40% daily. This amounts to a fall in sales of 5-15%.

No one has been spared by the IPL phenomenon — the decline can be seen across all stores, mass or premium. Big Bazaar, the Future Group’s department store chain, too, has recorded lower business volumes during the last two months.

Well, IPL is going to finish within a few days and after that consumers will go back to their normal life style. The good thing is that Indian people are not that fan of football. Next month, there is Euro 2008.