35-40% slashing in corporate gifts this Diwali: ASSOCHAM Survey

The reduction in gifts is more for outside connects than employees who are more or less receiving their annual gesture from their employers.

However, there has been certainly a downward impact on the bonus payments with several corporates reeling under debt and cutting costs in their overall operations. Besides, jerks arising out of demonetisation and the roll out issues of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) too have affected the overall sentiment.

“Consequent to slowdown in the Diwali gift sale, the FMCG companies which generally bet high on festive sales in the business of chocolates, cookies, sweets etc are reporting less than normal sales. Similar is the case with consumer durable firms engaged in washing machines, refrigerators, cooking ovens, electric stoves and other such items. Even the festive sale of high-end smartphones seems to have taken a hit,” said ASSOCHAM secretary general, D.S. Rawat.

“The survey endorses the general low key mood of the industry and trade with the considerable trimming of the festive budget,” he said.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) had conducted a telephonic survey of about 758 companies across tier I, II and III cities – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai in the run-up to Diwali.