Cyclone Nilam is a buzzword for the people of Tamil Nadu and South coastal Andhra. With many partners in the state busy floating offers and advertising in newspapers and posters, the cyclone dejected the sales to a large extent.

According to partners in Ritchie Street, Chennai, the business was dull due to customers opting to stay indoors and not come out to purchase any product. IT-dependent small-time businesses like roadside shops and accessory sellers were not present on the day. Even though there were no heavy rains in the city as expected, customer turnout happened to be very poor. Also, Corporation of Chennai's request to shut offices in the evening resulted in heavy traffic jam in the busy Anna Salai stretch, due to which the distribution segment was also struck. Other coastal regions like Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and nearby regions like Trichy, Ariyalur and Perambalur were hit by heavy rains.

In Andhra Pradesh, five districts-Chittoor, Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna-came under the impact of the cyclone. According to partners, though the customer walk-in was very bleak, some partners kept their shops open throughout the day.

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