Demand for dishwashers, OTGs soars as shops reopen

Chennai

BK Shankaranarayan, CEO, Viveks, confirmed the sudden spurt in dishwasher sales. “Priced Rs 35,000 to Rs 45,000, we usually only sell dishwasher units around Deepavali. But post lockdown, these are the first high-priced appliances to get sold,” he said, attributing the trend to maids being prevented from entering households. Similarly, oven, toaster and grills or OTG as they are called, are also getting sold fast. The trend of trying new recipes during lockdown, experimenting with baking and trying out new dishes have perhaps given OTGs a push that was not anticipated. “OTGs are bought usually during December but the forced holiday has made our sales go up three times,” Shankaranarayan said.

Nitesh Giria, steering Girias brand, said, “Men’s interest in cooking is also causing an increase in sales of OTGs. We have noticed an uptick in products like hand blenders and pedestal fans. Even air purifiers, which were not sold much in Chennai earlier, has a number of takers.” Dishwashers are also selling like hot cakes in Karnataka said Nitesh.

However, when it comes to operating ACs in their retail outlets, shopkeepers are in a fix. Suhail Sattar, Director, Hasbro Clothing, who also heads the Chennai chapter of Retailers’ Association of India (RAI), said the MHA guidelines were being followed but a national plan with operating rules applicable for different zones would have been more effective. “We are keen to help the government meet the goals when it comes to tackling the pandemic but we cannot be in a guessing game continuously when it comes to rules,” he said, adding no headway had been made as yet on the request to the State on allowing ACs to be used.

“We are even fine with operating ACs at 20-24 degree temperature. Chennai, which accounts for 8-10 per cent of the country’s organised retail, is extremely hot during summer,” Sattar sought to point out. “Airports are permitted to use ACs and so how are they different from showrooms? There has to be consistency in communication, when it comes to standard operating procedures,” said Shankaranarayan.