IT retail takes off in Orissa

As Orissa and parts of eastern India gear up to celebrate Rathyatra-an

important festival in Orissa, IT retail sales across Orissa are all set to soar.

Despite deterrents like heavy rains, inflation, rising hardware prices, sales

in the retail segment are doing well across eastern India. Flooded with festive

season offers and the evolution of a new market segment, Orissa is now on the

verge of emerging as a strong market for IT retail sales.

“During the festive season, the market here is swamped with numerous offers

particularly on laptops and desktops. Generally, the propensity to buy increases

during this season. Also, during Durga Puja, vendors come up with offers and new

sales policies which again give a boost to the trade,” commented Subash Das,

Joint Director, Info World.

Computer accessories like speaker system, headphones, USB storage devices,

mouse, printer, UPS etc, constitute the bulk of the offers in the season. Also,

some retail outlets are offering wooden desktop cabinets and tables to woo

customers.

With most of the trade happening during June-August, a whole new market

segment has evolved. Orissa now boasts of IT colleges and is fast becoming a

major educational destination. This has given rise to the student community who

has emerged as the major customers for the IT retail segment.

“College admissions take place during June-August and this is the time when

the bulk sales take place, as a PC is a must-have for any technical college

student. Previously, it was the medium and high disposable income group who

accounted for majority of the customers, but now, it is the students who are the

driving force in the market,” Das emphasized.

Also, laptop sales are at an all time high with Lenovo emerging as the leader

in marketshare. As hardware prices have now increased, assembling a desktop has

become dearer, particularly with LCD and CRT monitors, hard drives and

peripherals. “It is the look and appeal of Lenovo that has given it the lead in

the market. Their range of products and the price attracts the youth in

particular. Despite Compaq or Dell's aggressive marketing policy, Lenovo has

emerged as the leader,” said Prasant Kumar Swain, Chairman, Nigama Computech and

Services.

However, the market pattern in Orissa is changing fast. Most of the outlets

and channel partners are now concentrating more on retail sales rather than

channel business. “The profit margin is more in direct retail sales rather than

routing through channel partners. The bill clearance is fast in retail and also

the cash flow is more. Now, across Orissa, nearly all channel partners are

preferring direct retail sales rather than channel dealings,” shared Swain.

Unlike most of the states in eastern India, Orissa is seeing development of

IT retail throughout the state. Although Bhubaneswar accounts for nearly 70

percent of the total business, Cuttak, Balasore, and Sambalpur are also strong

markets, especially in Rourkela which has major corporate and MNC offices apart

from it's industrial setup.