MAM
Big ticket items are driving growth in the consumer durables industry this festive season: GfK
Mumbai: The pandemic effect appears to be waning as buying momentum for home appliances and electronics has improved in 2022, more so for premium products.
According to GfK market intelligence offline retail tracking, the top five consumer durable goods that contributed the most volume to growth during the festive season of 2021 compared to their annual sales were televisions (28 per cent), microwave ovens (28 per cent), vacuum cleaners (25 per cent) and washing machines (25 per cent). Based on past trends, these four products are expected to drive the growth of the consumer durable industry during this festive season as well.
GfK head of market intelligence India Anant Jain said, “As a result of the epidemic outbreak, consumer goods sales have been facing challenges for the past two years, but now things appear to be returning to “normal.” The fact that certain significant industries experienced strong double-digit growth in Q1 of 2022 is proof that the offline market has received a stimulus with shoppers moving back to the market to shop. For select categories, like washing machines, microwaves, televisions, and vacuum cleaners, the festive season accounts for more than 25 per cent of their annual sales. Additionally, electric water heaters also sell more than 30 per cent of their annual volumes during the festive months. With a 17 per cent volume gain over the prior year in July 2022 and a 21 per cent increase in value for major domestic appliances, consumer durables enjoyed a good start to the second quarter of 2022 (AC, refrigerator, washing machine, microwave).”
The second half of the year also looks promising for consumer durables due to the upcoming festivities in October. Every major manufacturer, retailer, and e-commerce platform is promoting their festive deals. Volume increased by 16 per cent year on year in October 2021. Sales of all major domestic appliance products are influenced by the festive season, especially during the Diwali months of October and November, and contribute roughly 17–19 per cent of all sales annually. This percentage is more for small domestic appliance categories, at about 21-23 per cent. During the forthcoming festive season, healthy growth and recovery of the early months lost owing to the third wave in January and February ’22 is anticipated.
As businesses compete for customers by offering incentives, some trends have emerged in the retail landscape. In addition to standard regular discounts, marketers are enticing customers with exchange offers, lucky draws, cashback, gift sets, and extended warranties. The trend of premiumization is expected to continue this festive season as Indian consumers continue to seek products that provide superior performance and user experience.
According to GfK’s assessment of industry expectations, some features and innovations are beginning to gain traction as ways to draw customers to new product launches. For instance, the industry anticipates products where design and personalisation come together to create the best possible customer experience. Consumers have responded favourably to smart appliances, which require minimal maintenance and have a wide range of capabilities. Some of the new features in products like refrigerators, which include voice commands to play music, check the weather, manage one’s calendar, and perform other daily tasks. Another example would be washing machines that use AI to detect load size, fabric types, and soil levels and will auto-adjust the optimal wash cycle and amount of detergent.
There is similar innovation in the television category, where it is expected that laser TVs may eventually replace PTVs because they use 30 per cent less energy than PTVs of comparable size (>75 inches), have a better recyclability concept (87 per cent recyclability), and require less material across the supply chain.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
