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The gap between the rich and the less affluent consumers has widened after the breakout of the pandemic, reports the Business Standard citing the consumer behaviour in the just concluded festive season.

While the rich bought up expensive items such as cars, mobile phones, televisions (TVs) washing machines and refrigerators, the less affluent were conservative as price rise acted as a deterrent.

The report said high-end, bigger-capacity models finding greater favour among consumers was evident across retailers, e-commerce firms and manufacturers.

Godrej Appliances business head and executive vice-president Kamal Nandi is quoted as saying that this year 14% volume growth over last year festival season. Value growth was higher at 28% on account of premium segments like frost-free refrigerators, fully automatic washing machines, and air-conditioners, he added.

Nilesh Gupta, managing director at Vijay Sales is quoted as saying that shoppers chose larger-capacity appliances and high-end products over smaller, mass segments.

Vijay Sales recorded 25% growth in value terms, even as the volumes were muted.

A price hike of 15% across consumer appliances was a factor in the mass segment, he said.

According to the report, the season has been muted for consumer appliances. The growth rate more than halved to 5-6%, Eric Braganza, president of the Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association, said.

Premiumisation gained pace for automotive companies chip shortage spoiled the game for them.

Retail sales dropped for Maruti Suzuki India. Its deliveries during the festival period dropped to 150,000 units, from the average 180,000-194,000 in the past years.

Retails fell short, compared to last year, due to the shortage of semiconductors, though enquiries and bookings remained robust Shashank Srivastava, executive director (sales and marketing), Maruti Suzuki, is quoted as saying.

Tarun Garg, director (sales and marketing), HMIL, echoed him.