Several households resorted to installing dishwashers after the pan India COVID-19 lockdown was lifted. What was highly noticed during Unlock 1.0 was the sudden rise in the sale of dishwashers, especially in different regions of Pune.
Multiple store managers spoke about the sudden boom in dishwasher deals and many said that as more and more people had to work from home while doing their daily household chores, dishwashers made their task easier. Pooja Luniya, owner of Narendra Electronics situated near Parvati said to TOI, "The demand is very high and we have already sold about 40 pieces in the last two weeks. Dishwasher sales would stand at 3 to 4 pieces annually. Even now, we have multiple enquiries for dishwashers and we have been placing weekly orders for new stock."
Pooja Khaleeni, a working woman said, "I am all alone at home managing chores and work. I was extremely dependent on domestic work for the chores and when the lockdown was announced, I was overloaded with work. I booked a dishwasher as soon as the lockdown was eased. My maid still doesn't come to work and the dishwasher has made life easy."
Another electronic goods dealer based in Pune stated, "We had ordered air conditioners and air coolers in January and February in preparation for the summer but the lockdown was then announced. Since we opened two weeks ago, we have been seeing heaviest demand for dishwashers while our stock of ACs and coolers sits at our godown. We had a few pieces of dishwashers only and have had to place new orders repeatedly to meet the demand."
"People are opting for entry-level models that start at about Rs 36,000. We have never seen sales for more than 5 or 6 pieces in a month in Pune but now it has gone to 20 or 25 pieces since the stores opened in May. Even the companies producing appliances were not ready for this kind of demand and many ran out of stock. We would generally get orders of dishwashers in 3 to 4 days but recently a lag of 7 to 8 days was noticed in delivery," said the Group Business Manager (Home & Entertainment) of Croma, Rajeev Singh.
