Big retailers like D-Mart, Big Bazaar and Reliance Fresh in Mumbai enjoyed a considerable jump in sales last week as small shopkeepers kept their shops closed in protest against the Local Body Tax (LBT).

More than one million shops remained closed from Monday to Saturday, causing inconvenience to customers who turned to big retailers to buy things they required.

Kishore Biyani, chief executive officer of India's leading listed retailer Future Group, confirmed that they were seeing an increase in sales. He also attributed the increase to LBT protest.

Speaking on the topic, Biyani said, "We are seeing at least 20 per cent same store-sales growth across the country compared to May last year. However, sales even on weekdays are a bit higher in Mumbai, which can be partly attributed to LBT protest."

Big retailers not only saw higher footfalls, but also escalated ticket size as nervous consumers purchased a lot just to stock up because they were quite uncertain on when the small retail shops will open.

The Local Body Tax (LBT) will replace octroi in Mumbai on October 1. The tax has already replaced octroi in the rest of Maharashtra.