Black Friday gets Kolkata malls buzzing with bargain shoppers, Retail News, ET Retail

Shopping malls in Kolkata are witnessing a surge in footfall since Friday, thanks to the massive discounts and deals on offer as part of the Black Friday shopping festival that winds up with Cyber Monday.

From New Town to Anwar Shah Road, Park Circus to Salt Lake City, Kolkatans have been making the most of the holiday weather, World Cup fever, wedding season and upcoming festivities for indulgent shopping. CT went mall-hopping over the weekend to get a slice of the action.

Indian cities warm up to Black Friday sales
Until recently, Black Friday was a very American event, where customers would queue up for hours at night, to be the first ones to be allowed into the stores that offered heavy discounts on all kinds of products. In India, the concept has picked momentum in recent years with almost all major brands across categories offering attractive discounts and deals over three-four days. This year, with the pandemic now behind us, malls have registered a significant rise in interest and footfall for Black Friday.

At a popular mall in Kasba, for instance, where all major brands and stores are participating in the Black Friday Sales, there is also the added attraction of a food festival to draw in more visitors. K Vijayan, General Manager, Acropolis, explained how the momentum picked up during these sales is likely to help business in the weeks to come. “We can leverage this event to kickstart the winter shopping spree that will continue till the New Year. While skincare, colour cosmetics and apparel are doing very well, we are expecting to clock good numbers in all categories by the time the event wraps up,” he said.

A boom in the lean month of November
After the high of Durga Puja and Diwali, November would typically be a dull month. But thanks to the buzz around Black Friday, retailers are looking at doing good business this month as well. Elaborating on this, Man Mohan Bagree, Vice President, South City Groups shared, “The Black Friday Sale has been a boom to the lean month of November. Especially since it is being celebrated in a big way after a gap of two years.”

Things are also upbeat at City Centre 1 and 2 in Salt Lake and Rajarhat respectively. “The two malls have performed extremely well between March and October 2022. However, there was a sudden dip in footfall post-Diwali and the Black Friday Sale was much needed to kick start business again. We are very happy with the response so far,” said Ramesh Pandey, Vice President, Marketing & Branding AmbujaNeotia Group.

At a luxury mall, where certain stores had shoppers queue up to avail of the dramatic discounts, footfall has been at least 30 per cent more than previous year. Shared Sanjeev Mehra, Senior Vice President Quest, “Business-wise it is much better than the previous year with luxury brands doing better business than before. The last day of Black Friday Sale is likely to see the numbers go north,” he said. A projection shared by many.

Surprises in store
Winter and Christmas decor at Salt Lake and New Town malls
Food festivals and pop-ups at South Kolkata malls
Surprise gifts and other giveaways

Black Friday favourites
Skincare
Colour cosmetics
Apparel
Lingerie
Belts
Shoes
Bags
Winterwear
Household, electronics, kitchenware

Pics: Samik Sen