Where all deewali gift gone?

Normally Diwali is a festival of gifts in Delhi. The time when companies hand out gifts not only to their employees but also to those whom they want to keep happy and satisfied. But a time of falling Sensex, dipping profits and rising number of lay-offs, a different scenario is emerging. With a lull in the banking, finance and real estate sectors, many companies are cutting costs. And that has left the gift industry all dressed up and nowhere to go. According to restaurant owner Varun Khera, business is down by 30% since last year. ‘‘I’ve a client base of 500 whom I engaged with Diwali gifts. But this year, I’ve cut down on such gifts to a minimum,’’ says Khera who runs two restaurants in Noida’s Sector 18. There are three kinds of corporate gifting, says Sandeep Banerjee of Accor Services India, a company that provides services to corporate clients and public institutions. To begin with, corporates gift their channel partners like dealers and distributors. ‘‘But one sees no dip in gifting here as they want to keep their channel partners motivated,’’ he maintains. Two, corporates gift their business associates. ‘‘Here too, no slowdown is noticed,’’ he says. Three, corporates gift their employees. ‘‘Here, companies have maintained last year’s level. There’s no increase on this count,’’ says Banerjee, the company’s managing director. Even electronics goods’ shops that normally dish out complimentary gifts with purchases of high-end products have tightened their purse strings. Rakesh Gupta of Ankur Electronics in Noida’s sector 18 says, ‘‘Sales are down by 25-30%. Nobody is buying refrigerators, TV or music systems. So how can we offer complimentary gifts to the customer?’’ he says. In this mood of gloom, a small upbeat story comes from Cadbury India, the new age sweetmeat that has given stiff competition to the traditional mithai sellers. ‘‘Chocolate is an affordable treat since we operate within a price range of Rs 5 to Rs 500. We believe chocolates will be the last to be scratched off people’s shopping list during this Diwali,’’ says Sanjay Purohit of Cadbury India. Sweetshops and grocery stores agree with his view. Anything to sweeten the bitter pill of lower sales.