Retailers large and small are vying to offer customers better deals at affordable prices. And discount sales - seasonal or otherwise - are an effective way to get rid of leftover stock.

ARE YOU a fashion conscious consumer who looks down upon sales and wouldn't deign to wear 'yesterday's fashion'? Or are you one who deals during a sale? Well, if you're the second type, it's time to rejoice. Discounts have become the norm rather than the exception in most apparel retail outlets. The ratio between goods sold at MRP and those sold on clearance used to be 9:1, but is now around 6:4. Discount no longer remain a tactical tool to perk up business during specific seasons; they are a strategic intent to stay ahead in the retail game.

Whether it's Shoppers' Stop, Westside or Ebony, Benetton, USI or the Arvind Brands, retailers are searching for newer reasons to offer customers better deals, shorter runs in design and superior choice at a more affordable price. "This is an indication of where the market is going. Retailers are finding legitimate reasons to discount. Business seasons are getting shorter and, in that sense, there's flattening of seasonality." Says Aninda Mukharji, VP Maral Fashions, the company that owns the Buddy Davis brand.

Four years ago there was two peak seasons in which sales climaxed. For the rest of the year, sales ticked along at a lower pace. What was on offer during a discount period was normally surplus stock, some of it shoddy. Things are a little different today. Companies have taken a deliberate decision to offer discounts for either increased periods or with growing frequency. Depending on the season prior to the sale, most what's on offer isn't redundant stock- sometimes it's the entire range of merchandise for that season. "This is to ensure continuity of business and consumer walk-ins. Customers are more discerning and look at sales as a way of enhancing their wardrobe. They're not willing to accept defective or leftover items, and retailers have to cater to this,"adds Mukharji.

Previously, retailers had to cope with a surge of consumers during a discount season in order to sell over 30 percent of their stock. Now consumers don't necessarily come in hordes but in manageable numbers. "Forecasting for a more regular pattern of sales is always good news. A retail space is designed for an average walk-in consumer- be it the aisle space, the checkout counter or the back-end. For a retailer to handle an influx of consumers and to anticipate an increase in demand is difficult," says Harminder Sahni, associate director, KSA Technopak.

Having said that, there is a lot of unrest among retailers. "Sales are primarily meant to clear seasonal stock to make way for fresh merchandise. With sales increasing, retailers have cultivated an unnatural buying habit in consumers. Eventfully we are scaling down the requirement of the consumer and ensuring that he won't visit our store in a non-sale period," says Rakesh Malhotra, VP, buying and merchandising, Ebony. This is something hugely disturbing for the retailing fraternity-it hasn't reached unmanageable proportions yet, but many are worried it might get out of hand and ultimately have an effect on their margins.

According to industry analysts, retailer mark-up in India are extremely low (about 25 per cent), unlike in developed markets where the average mark-up is close to 100-125 percent. During a sale the retailer is passing on a portion of his margin to the consumer and is bound to feel the pressure. "We will not be able to survive if we continue this way. All big retailers are bleeding today,"says Darshan Mehta, president, Arvind Brands.