Sales of helmet start to dip

City-based sellers say while they witnessed a huge demand for helmets in the last week of June and first two weeks of July, the footfall in the shops have reduced now. In the wholesale market the sales have dropped sharply.

J.V. Ashok Kumar, partner of Spark Helmets, a wholesale dealer of branded helmets at Alwarthirunagar said sales have dropped to almost 500 units per day. “During the peak period we sold more than 1,000 units. There was a huge demand for popular brands, which cost about Rs 500 to

Rs 1,000 in the wholesale market. These are priced 25 per cent more in the retail market,” Kumar said.

Helmet retailer, Jomon George, who runs a shop at Vadapalani said that for the last two weeks they were selling only about 20 helmets per day. “During the last week of June we sold about 80 helmets a day. We even closed our shops for ten days early this month because there were no stocks with us,” he said.

Sellers pointed out that this is because of two reasons. Noting that the sales have dropped almost 50 per cent now, Mohammed of Head Gear, at Thousand Lights said most people have bought helmets by now.

“Almost more than 70 per cent of the two-wheeler drivers own helmets” he said. Also the helmet checking has come down on city roads. “Checking is not that strict in many areas as it was in the initial days. So many people are avoiding helmets,” said Mr George. He added that those who care for safety would continue to buy and wear standard helmets.

That said, the kids category continues to witness huge demand. “Stock and choice in this category is not good. Also children are very choosy about the colour. But most helmets that are being manufactured are black. We are facing a demand-supply gap in this section,” he said.

After the Madras High Court ordered that all two-wheeler riders must wear helmets from July 1, sale of headgear hit a high.

Sellers registered almost 100 per cent sales growth for the first few weeks. Customers also complained that some shops overcharged them.